Fuel, Fire and Desire
by Gonzo250
Summary: A KiGo for petrolheads. Kim gets into cars and bikes, illegal street racing & Shego. But there are 2 sides to the coin in this one. The girl really can do anything, including being a bad girl. M for the usual. KiBon, YoRon, YoBon, RoMon still to come...
1. Fuel for the Fire

**Fuel, Fire and Desire**

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is a KiGo for petrolheads. If you're not that into cars and bikes, you'll more than likely end up bored, especially with the beginning. I'm using it purely to give some background on my 'version' of Kim and a bit of a basis for the story. And I tend to ramble on like an old man.

I am also an Englander and, as such, I spell like one. I'm not about to try and spell like a Yank just so it 'fits' the story.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION-PLEASE READ BEFORE CONTINUING!!!

You will notice the characters are very much OOC from the TV series. The main changes being to Kim.

I've made Kim out to be a bit of a bad girl with a short fuse and a bitchy, nonchalant temperament and she's into rock instead of the usual girly crap. You won't find her wearing anything pink, either.

Shego's pretty much what you'd expect without the censorship of kid's TV, but with a hint of shyness when it comes to emotional stuff.

Ron's not quite as dopey or blatantly blonde as he is on TV either.

Chapter 1: Fuel for the Fire

Kim led a busy life, obviously juggling school, saving the world and lately, her absolute passion of all things motorised that had been growing steadily after her parents had bought her a car for her 17th. As it was a classic, there was usually something going wrong with it that she needed her dad's help to fix. Something he was always willing to give, but not always had the time to do so, and several times, the faded BRG mk3 ford Cortina had sat forlornly on the drive waiting for someone to lavish some attention on it.

"Dad! My car's not starting again! Do you think you could help me fix it?" She called from the front door, leaning on the frame and peering into the house. She was wearing a black long-sleeved AC/DC t-shirt to hide a tattoo she had gotten recently on her left shoulder, a pair of cut-off jeans shorts and a pair of Doc Marten workboots. She preferred wearing boots to trainers lately because she noticed they gave her more ankle support on missions and they had the added advantage of being more resistant to Shego's plasma and landing a heavier kick.

"Sure thing Kimmie-cub. Just let me finish up what I'm doing here and I'll be with you." He said, not looking up from the paperwork he was going over on the dining room table.

"Any idea how long you're gonna be, cuz I said I'd meet Ron at Bueno Nacho in an hour?" She asked, hoping he was nearly done.

"Sorry Kim, but I'm gonna be here for at least that. I'm afraid you're gonna have to walk this time." He looked up, straight into a full-blown PDP. "Gah! I should have seen that coming! I'm sorry Kim, but the answer's still the same. I can't leave this unfinished." He sighed.

"Humph. Fine. Can I borrow yours instead then?" She asked, a little annoyed that she wasn't going to get her way.

"Hahaha! After having seen the way you drive your car, not a chance!" He laughed, earning a scowl from Kim.

"And just what is wrong with my driving?" She demanded, annoyance turning to upset at the dig.

"Well put it this way Kimmie-cub, it wouldn't look too out of place on a racetrack. I'm actually surprised your license is still clean and you haven't managed to blow the poor thing up yet." He chuckled, and Kim's scowl deepened.

"Bollocks then." She grunted, spinning round and storming off, slamming the door behind her. She kicked her car as she passed it, cursing under her breath. She decided to call Ron on the Kimmunicator and see if he wanted to meet early as her planned journey taking the long, long way to Bueno Nacho had been well and truly pissed on.

"Hey Ron, my car's not starting again, so do ya fancy meeting early for lunch?" She asked hopefully, knowing that Ron had more than likely made plans to fill the time before their arranged lunch date.

"Hey KP. Sorry, no can do. I'm in the middle of cleaning Rufus' cage at the mo. I can give ya a call if I finish early though?"

She sighed. So far, she was not having an especially good day. "Yeah Ron, that sounds cool. See you later."

"Catch you later KP!"

She closed the call and decided to head back home and see if she could figure out the mystery car trouble herself to pass the time. That, too, only ended up darkening her mood.

Having got more than a little narked with the Cortina, which she had nicknamed the Almighty, purely out of spite as it was far from almighty, breaking down seemingly every other day, she had enrolled on an evening class learning mechanics, welding, fabricating, machining, spraying and coachworking [bodywork in normal lingo. She had a flare for it and had been taken under the tutor's wing, being given extra help and shown various 'insider' techniques which she mastered with little help.

It was the final lesson in her evening mechanic course and she was actually sad that it had come to an end. It had been great fun working with Kevin, the tutor, and she was going to miss the playful bickering and sarcastic remarks. She'd hung back after everyone else had left to say a proper goodbye.

"Thanks for all your help Mr. Beam. I'm actually gonna miss you." She sighed. They had got on better than she had expected as men with beards and long hair, even braided like his was, usually gave her the creeps.

He laughed. "Yeah, I'm actually gonna miss having to kick your arse every time you make a noobie fuck-up too." He grinned, giving her a slight wink and she started to blush.

"Yeah, like you could ever really kick my ass!" She chided, grinning.

"Heh. Yeah, I spose you're right, Miss 'Anything's Possible'." He smiled good-naturedly, then an idea struck him, "Hey, I'm gonna be heading down to that old industrial estate just on the Middleton/Upperton border, Saturday around 8pm to hook up with some mates. We get together to show off our rides and talk crap. You fancy coming along?" He looked hopeful. Hey, Kim was cool, funny, talented and had a cool car, even if it was tatty and constantly breaking down.

"Hmmm... I dunno... I'll think about it." She said warily. Was he trying to hit on her or just be friendly? Either way, meeting in an abandoned industrial estate at night sounded a bit risky to her...

"You're more than welcome to bring a friend if you like. There's gonna be quite a few of us, so its not like I'm trying to put you in harm's way." He reassured her, seeing the slight worry in her eyes.

"Ok, cool. I'll see if I can make it. Is this like a weekly thing? Cuz with the reliability of the Almighty I'm not sure if it'll get me there." She warned, also hoping it wasn't just a one-off thing.

"Yeah, pretty much every Saturday. Just pull up by the old Toys R Us warehouse and flash your lights twice. Someone'll meet you and take you there." He said, offhandedly.

"Sweet!" She squeaked. "Thanks Mr. Beam! I'll see you later!" She turned and headed to the door.

"Oh and Kim? Keep it under your hat. I'd appreciate this being kept between us." He asked, a hint of mischief in his eyes.

"O...k. I can do that." She said, the mischievous smirk that was working its way onto his face not lost on her. "See you later Mr. Beam."

"See you later, Kim. And call me Kev!" He called after her as she walked through the door.

After the parting words from her tutor, she was a little confused. The honest part of her was screaming that something wasn't right and she should notify the authorities, but the bad girl in her was screaming even louder telling her she had been let in on a big secret and should keep shtum and be happy that Kevin thought enough of her to let her in on it.

Obviously, the bad girl won out and she went home with a grin on her face.

Saturday came and went, and Kim had completely forgotten about the offer, partly due to spending every waking moment in the garage working on her car sorting out every minor problem and getting it running again.

After finally getting the Almighty running reliably, she became bored with the somewhat lethargic performance and questionable handling, brought into sharp relief by Bonnie prancing about in a flashy convertible her father had bought her for Christmas and her best girlfriend Monique turning up on her doorstep in a brand new BMW M3 and throwing her the keys.

She wanted the speed! It was like a drug and she had to have more!

It was then that she remembered Mr. Beam's offer of the meetings that took place every Saturday in the old industrial estate. She decided to call up Monique and see if she wanted to join her.

"Hey Monique, what you up to this Saturday around 8?" She asked, trying to make it sound like offhand curiosity, and only partly succeeding.

"Nothing so far girl, whatcha plannin'? And don't tell me you ain't cuz I know when you lyin'." She teased, grinning.

"Dammit, you figured me out already!" She cursed. She really wasn't any good at lying, especially to Monique. "My old mechanics tutor invited me to a car meet up at the old industrial estate on the Upperton border. Fancy tagging along?" She asked hopefully. She really didn't want to turn up by herself, still being a little apprehensive about the whole sitch.

"I dunno Kim. I heard from a few people there's some shady stuff goes on up there." She warned, a little apprehensive about going herself.

"Shady stuff like what?" Kim inquired, her interest piqued. She just HAD to go now to find out what it was all about!

"I wish I knew, girl. I didn't hang about to find out any more cuz I never thought I'd end up going." She answered honestly.

"Well I'm going anyway, so you in or out?" She asked, a little more forcefully than she'd meant to.

"Whoa, girl! Calm down! Sure I'll come with. You wanna go in my car?" She asked, a bit flustered at Kim's sudden determination.

"Sorry Monique. Didn't mean it to come out like that." She apologised sheepishly. "I was thinking go in separate cars actually. I was planning to show off my handiwork to Kev when I got there. Shall I drop by yours at, say, 7:30 and we head out from there?"

"Since when did you get on first-name terms with this guy?" Monique asked mockingly, and Kim flushed, hiding her face, even though Monique couldn't see it, being on the other end of a phone.

"Never you mind!" Kim yelled back, shocked. Monique burst out laughing on the other end of the phone. "Yeah, 7:30 sounds cool. See you then, girlfriend." She managed to get out, still giggling, and hung up the phone.

Saturday, 7:30 on the dot, Monique heard the familiar noise of Kim's car pull up outside her house and she got up, grabbing her keys and called to her parents she was going out. She stepped out the door into the already fading light and took a moment to look at the sunset over Middleton before walking over to her car.

She got in her car and fired it up, switched on the lights and motioned for Kim to lead the way.

Due to Kim's manic driving, they got to the warehouse early, so parked up and waited the few minutes until 8pm, Monique deciding to bring up Kim's driving. "Girl, you ever thought of becoming a racecar driver? You were throwing that thing around like a woman possessed!" She raved.

Kim laughed nervously. "Eheh... Er... Yeah." She stammered, fidgeting on the spot and looking around, not quite sure whether to take it as a compliment or an insult. "My dad noticed it too, so I guess it's not just him being paranoid."

Monique scoffed. "Ha! No way, girl! I was having trouble keeping up with you, and mine's not exactly slow!"

More embarrassed laughter. "Heheh. Oh. My bad..." She trailed off, glancing at her watch before reaching in through her window and flicking her lights on and off twice, waving Monique back to her car as she got back in her own.

Just as she'd got strapped in and fired the old beast up, a second set of lights somewhere down the road flashed and a black Supra pulled out of an almost unseen alleyway and stopped beside Kim's window, rolling down its own. "And you are...?" The slightly oriental-looking man behind the wheel asked her.

"Kim Possible, and my friend in the BMW's name is Monique. Kevin Beam invited me along." She answered, hoping she'd said the right thing.

"Finally! Kevin has been waiting for you to turn up for over a month!" he burst out, grinning. "Pleased to meet you. My name is Hiroshitu. Follow me."

He pulled away and waited at a junction for the 2 girls to turn round, Kim doing a 180-degree burnout and Monique opting for the more sensible 3-point turn.

After both pulling up behind Hiroshitu, he led the way through the estate to a large, but very tired-looking warehouse, flashing the doors in a specific manner and waiting until they were opened.

The doors were pulled open and they drove inside, the noise of their engines mingling with the clanging of tools on the concrete floor and in toolboxes, the voices of the other drivers and mechanics, car stereos all tuned into Planet Rock and the occasional engine spluttering and backfiring while the mechanics worked to rectify the fuelling problems. They were directed to the back of the warehouse where there were still some empty parking spaces.

Once they had parked up, they got out and Hiroshitu walked over to the two girls who had decided to lean on Kim's bonnet. Kim was wearing something a bit more 'her' for once; a pair of flame pattern New Rocks that stopped just shy of her knees, black bondage shorts with barbed wire-style chains, a spent-shell belt and a sleeveless Iron Maiden t-shirt that showed off the 'Death of Glory' tattoo her parents still didn't know about. Monique had dressed casually, but not too casually. A white t-shirt with the line 'My eyes are up there ' in black, with 3/4 length black cargo trousers, a pair of khaki Etnies finished the look.

"May I show you around, ladies?" He offered. Kim smiled. "Yeah, that sounds great!" He returned the smile and motioned for the two girls to follow him. "As you may be able to tell," He started, "This is where we do most of the mechanics on our vehicles. Many of us have our own mechanics and toolkits on-site. If you look above the cars on the walls, you will notice the nameplates designating the various racer's individual spaces."

Kim raised an eyebrow when he used the term 'racers' instead of 'drivers', and looked over at Monique, who shrugged, but they decided not to interrupt.

They moved through the warehouse, which was larger than they had first thought, into a smaller area with a ramp and a dyno. "This is where we measure the power output of our cars and carry out any under-chassis work that we cannot do with the cars on axle-stands. We also have a wheel alignment computer as you may have noticed." He pointed to a large computer setup that sat in front of the ramp. "It works using lasers reflected off, basically, mirrors attached to the wheel hubs." He explained. The jargon was completely lost on Monique, but Kim was lapping it up.

Moving on again, they came to yet another area that was largely fitted out with racking and stocked with all sorts of different sized boxes. There was what could only be described as a counter that stretched the entire length of the room and separated them from the racking. At the far end, the racking stopped to make way for a large open area that was crowded with all sorts of heavy machinery. Lathes, mills, pillar drills, surface grinders, welders, balancing machines, laser cutters, gas axes and all other manner of tooling were crammed into it. "This is the toolroom and parts store." Explained Hiroshitu. "This is where all the custom fabrication goes on and where we store tuning accessories, and Kim, if you look over there, you will see Kevin currently working on a turbo manifold."

Kim followed Hiroshitu's finger and, indeed, saw Kev hunched over a bench with a die grinder in his hand working on what looked like a tangle of shiny tubes. Kim's face lit up at seeing her old tutor again and she bounded over and leant on the counter close to where he was working leaving Monique and Hiroshitu to make small talk.

"Hey Kev!" She called, trying to get his attention through the noise of the airtool he was using. He looked around trying to spot where the voice was coming from before spotting Kim leaning on the counter smiling at him. "Kim! How the hell are you? It's been ages! Nice outfit by the way." He said with a wink, partially masked by the safety goggles he was wearing. The suggestive smirk, however, didn't go unnoticed, and Kim began to blush despite herself. 'Ok,' She thought, 'He must be hitting on me.' "Thanks. Yeah, I'm good. Sorry I didn't come sooner, I was busy working on my car trying to get all the problems sorted." She responded.

"Yeah? How'd that go?" Asked Kev, genuinely interested. Most of his students didn't end up making much use of what he taught them, so it was refreshing to know that Kim hadn't let her obvious talent go to waste.

"It went pretty well actually. The old beast's running better than she ever has before. Had a few problems getting a new camshaft though, but other than that, it's all sorted and running like a dream." She said, barely hiding the fact she was proud of herself for doing it on her own.

"Excellent. Did you drive it down here tonight? I'll have to come and check it out." He asked.

"Well duh. I wasn't about to miss a chance to show off my handiwork." She teased.

He chuckled. "Nice one. Gimme a minute to pack this up and I'll be with you." "Ok. I'll be over there." She said, indicating to Monique and Hiroshitu, who seemed to be getting along quite well.

When Kim started walking back over to the pair, they suddenly cut the conversation short and looked at each other trying to think of anything else to talk about, and fast. "So, Hiro, how long did you say you'd been driving?" Asked Monique, a little too quickly, as Kim got within earshot. "Ah, yes, er, must be about 5 years now. I, er, started out in my mother's old car and went from there." He said hurriedly.

While Kim had been busy talking with Kevin, Monique and Hiroshitu had been talking about how obvious it was that they were flirting with each other, finding it quite amusing that Kim was probably completely oblivious to it all. The both wondered when the penny would drop and one of them would ask the other out.

"How old is Kevin? He looks a bit young to be a tutor." Monique pointed out. "Not really. He's only 25. Young, yes, but very talented as a mechanic, among other things." Hiroshitu replied.

It was about then that Kim had started walking back over and they had cut the conversation short. "O...kay... Weird much." She commented as they both shifted nervously under her gaze. "So what were you two nattering about behind my back that's got you fidgeting like prisoners waiting for interrogation?" She asked in a playful manner, not thinking it was really anything about her.

"Oh, nothing, really. Just cars and stuff." Replied Monique, Hiroshitu nodded in agreement.

Kim shrugged, not really too bothered. "Fair enough. Kev's gonna be over in a minute." She said simply.

When Kevin finally turned up, Monique piped up, "So you're the guy that had Kim chippin' off her best buddies to work on that heap of rust she calls a car." Kim gave her a death glare for that insult to her precious car and Monique merely stuck her tongue out and folded her arms. "Er, yeah. I spose I am." Replied Kev, not sure quite what to make of the statement. He held out a hand to introduce himself. "I'm Kev, obviously, and who are you?" He asked pleasantly. "Monique. Pleased to meet you. Diggin' the hair, by the way, but it so ain't working with that top, dude." Replied Monique in her usual 'I'mo speak ma mind and screw the consequences!' manner.

"Monique! Hush your mouth, woman!" Kim burst out, shocked. "Don't mind her. She's studying to be a fashion designer and likes to think she can tell the whole world what to wear." The statement earned Kim a death glare of her own. Kim silently mouthed "Now we're even, biatch." at Monique, which caused the outspoken girl to roll her eyes.

"Heh. No worries. I'm sort of used to people telling me my fashion sense is crap. To coin a phrase, 'No big'." Kim grinned at Kev using one of her lines. Monique and Hiroshitu exchanged knowing glances. "So, shall we go and see what you've done to the Almighty since you finished that course?" He suggested. "Sounds good to me!" Kim squealed. More knowing glances.

They wandered over to where Kim had parked, Kim walking slightly ahead, an obvious bounce to her step. She got to the car and reached into the cab and popped the bonnet. Kev taking the opportunity to admire her arse until he got a sharp dig in the ribs from Monique. "Ow! Wossat for?" He asked, playing dumb. "You know exactly what, mister." Teased Monique. "Ok, ok, you got me." He conceded.

After Kim had shown Kevin every single thing she'd repaired on her car, a task that Monique and, to a point, Hiroshitu wished they could slip away from and do something... anything... else to pass the time, Kev checked his watch and announced to the garage it was 15 minutes to the main event of the night. "What do you mean, main event?" Kim inquired, feeling that she was about to find out exactly what the 'shady stuff' Monique had mentioned were. "Every week we hold events to test out our cars. Tonight, it's drag racing." Hiroshitu explained. Kim and Monique both figured it out at about the same time and their mouths just hung open as they stood there, shocked.

Kim, being who she was, managed to recover first. "Y-you mean this is an illegal street racing syndicate or something?" She whispered, forgetting she was standing in the middle of a noisy garage and nobody cared anyway. Kev laughed. "I was wondering when you were gonna figure it out. I thought you'd be a bit quicker than this though." Kim just glared at him. "What? It's not like anyone gets hurt... too often." He smirked.

Kim rolled her eyes, keeping a calm exterior on the outside. Inside, she was a little confused. The do-gooder in her was, once again, yelling that this was all a very bad idea and she should get Wade to call the police, but the car-mad bad girl, a voice that had been growing increasingly louder over the past weeks, merely bellowed at the good side to shut the fuck up and enjoy the show. Which it did.

"So, before everyone heads out to race, you wanna see some of the cars?" He asked, as if nothing was out of the ordinary. At the mention of cars, Kim snapped back to reality: "Oh fuck yes!" She gushed. "Here we go..." Sighed Monique. Kim paid her no mind and followed Kev off to perv over fast cars.

After a while, they came to a very unassuming car that had been badly painted matt black. It was an old Chevy Nova looking like it had seen far better days. There were dents in pretty much every panel, the front grill and the bumpers were missing and there were rust patches showing through the paint. Most of the interior had been stripped out and replaced with a single bucket seat and a custom dashboard with only a few gauges: speedo, rev counter, oil pressure and water temperature.

"Jeez, this makes my car look positively new!" Kim commented. Monique agreed. "Looks like another worthless POS to me." Kevin merely smiled. This, ladies, is my baby." They both gawped at him like he was crazy. Hiroshitu just stood there looking smug. "What would you want with this heap?!" Asked Kim in astonishment. She expected Kev's car to be absolutely immaculate and shiny. "This 'heap', as you call it, is the quickest car out there on the track. With a few more mods, it'll be the quickest on the strip as well. You saw me working on that turbo manifold? I'm planning on a twin turbo setup for it." He reached inside and popped the bonnet. "Go ahead and have a look." He encouraged. Kim did as he suggested and lifted the bonnet. She was stunned. Again. 'Twice in 5 minutes!' She thought. 'He's just full of surprises...'

Under the bonnet was where the money had been spent. Nestled in the engine bay sat a bigblock Chevy V8 on quad Webber downdraughts bolted to a custom manifold, all the pulleys were made of billet aluminium, the headers had been ceramic-chrome plated, an electronic ignition ECU was bolted to the bulkhead and the whole engine bay was spotless. "Wow." The two girls said in unison.

Kev walked round to Kim's side and looked with them for a moment or two before asking, "Impressed then?" They both jumped, not expecting Kev to be standing there, and nodded. "I thought you might be. It's got gas flowed heads with oversized valves, a high lift cam, titanium push- and con-rods, ally rockers, billet steel short-stroke crank, forged high-compression pistons and high flow headers. It'll rev to 9,000 and puts out around 600 brake and 800 ft-lbs torque. I got a 5-speed close ratio stick shift with a skeleton flywheel and triple plate racing clutch bolted to the back of it so I can get the power to the ground without the leech-like power loss associated with crappy auto 'boxes. Oh, I almost forgot, I got a 4.1:1 ratio limited-slip diff in the back end as well."

He finished his little narrative and looked round, half-expecting the two girls to be bored stiff and standing there looking at the ceiling. Only Monique filled that vision, not being that into cars and not seeming to have the hots for him like Kim appeared to have. Kim had been drinking it like water. She loved it! It was perfect! The plans were already starting to form in her head of what she could do to the Almighty, starting with what engine she should use...

"So is there a name for what you've built then, Kev?" Inquired Kim, intrigued. "Yeah. It's called a street sleeper. There's loads out there. They look standard, or even old and beat up like mine, but underneath, they're dripping with all the latest in suspension, braking and performance upgrades. Lots of them don't even use the standard engine or drivetrain setups. I've seen some truly awesome engines shoehorned into the strangest of cars. V8 rear-drive Civic, anyone?" He chuckled.

Shortly, all the drivers began gearing up and starting their cars. The noise in the warehouse rose to an almost deafening roar as the drivers revved their cars to warm them up. Immediately, Kim was drawn to one noise in particular. It sounded like an automatic rifle on short burst and rose to a high-pitched scream when it was revved, almost instantly dropping back down to it's uneven 'wrrap wrrap wrrap wrrap' idle. She looked around to see if she could spot which car it was coming from, but the noise of the other cars made it impossible to tell.

It was only as the doors were opened and the cars began to file out that she found out which one it was. They had left Kev to get his car ready and were walking outside with the mechanics and a few others when the car drew level with her and Monique and the driver gave the throttle a prod, causing a foot-long flame to shoot out of the side-exit exhaust, making the girls jump back. "Sorry! My bad!" He yelled over the noise. Kim was in awe. She HAD to find out what that engine was!

When they got outside, all the cars had lined up along one side of the road, like they were waiting for something to happen. "Well ah dunno what they're waitin' for." Commented Monique, who had been quiet all through Kev's rambling. "Nor do I." Replied Kim. Hiroshitu came up beside them with the answer. "They are waiting for tonight's opposition. A rival crew from the outskirts of Lowerton. We hold events in each other's territory. This week, it is our turn to host the event. Although they are late, which is not uncommon for them. Some of their drivers get a little... Spirited on the way over and they have to scatter to avoid being caught by the police. A habit which all of the car crews we race against have expressed a dislike to, and have told them as much. Alas, they do not appear to be listening." He sighed, obviously a little irritated.

Taking the opportunity, Kim made a beeline for the car with the odd-sounding engine. As far as she could tell, it looked like any other Mazda RX-7 with a bodykit, but there was obviously something pretty special under the bonnet. She stood by the driver's window waiting for him to finish whatever it was he was doing in the cab before she made her presence known.

"Oh, hey. Sorry about the pyrotechnics in the warehouse earlier. Didn't expect it to do that." He apologised. "No big. Just made us jump. No harm done." Kim waved it off and smiled. "What engine are you running? I've never heard a car idle or pick up like that before!" She burst out, her subtle approach going straight out the window. The driver grinned. "This is something a bit special. I don't make a point of showing it off cuz it's the only one in Middle, Upper and Lowerton that runs reliably. It's basically the same engine they used in the Mazda 787B Le Mans car. I got the plans off the internet and built it myself. It's a 4-rotor Wankel engine running 4 ITBs and a pretty much straight-through exhaust. I've done a few other bits and pieces to it, but I'm keeping that to myself." He winked smiling. "Man, that is so cool! Building an engine yourself! Major respect dude!" Kim gushed, not being able to hide the fact she was seriously impressed with this dude's skills.

The driver smiled widely, loving the praise. "Thanks. It's not really that hard once you get into it." He said, playing it down. "Hey, if you want, I could take you up the strip when I do a practice run, show you what she can do." He suggested. Kim's mouth hung open. "Are you serious? That would be so fuckin' cool!" "Yeah, no worries. Hop in. The other crew should be here soon if they've managed to lose the fuzz."

As she was getting strapped in, the other crew started turning up, their cars all painted shades of red with blue tribal vinyls compared to the fleet of dark greens and blacks of the crew she was with.

Kim saw Kevin walking over to the lead car and overheard the conversation. "About fucking time you got here!" Kevin said, the irritation obvious in his voice. "What was the hang-up this time? One of your drivers try racing an old lady and lost?" The other driver bristled at this. "For once, it wasn't our fault, asshole. We had a break-in and one of our girl's car got fucked over. We had to get everyone helping out to get it running again for tonight. And evidence points to YOUR crew being responsible! One of my boys saw a green and black Monaro leave the area at high speed about an hour before we got there, so explain your way out of that one!" He spat. Kevin looked very confused. "Man, none of my drivers own a Monaro, you know that, and you know damn well we don't steal!"

Kim stopped listening. 'It couldn't be! She thought. 'Why would Shego break into a street racing gang's lockup just to cause damage and nothing else?' She frowned and bit her lip before deciding she'd work it out later. Right now, she had a practice run to enjoy!

The racers began lining up for their practice runs and one by one, they took off down the road. The closer they got to the front, the more Kim's excitement grew. She couldn't believe how nervous she felt and she wasn't even the one driving!

Eventually they were at the front of the queue and the driver, like all previous, flicked on his line lock and pulled a rather impressive burnout to get his tyres up to temperature. Kim was almost deafened by the screaming rotary and the whine of the straight-cut gearbox but had a big grin on her face the whole time. They rolled up to the start line and waited for the signal to go, the driver building the revs slowly. The signal came and he slammed his foot to the floor, dumped the clutch and the car took off like a scalded cat. Kim was thrown back in her seat, the wind knocked out of her and her vision going slightly blurry, then it was all over, they were driving back to the start.

When she got out, she was wearing the biggest shit-eating grin anyone had ever seen her sporting. She ran back over to Monique who'd been wondering where she'd been. "Jeez, girl, where you been? I thought you'd ditched me! And what is with that cheesy grin, missy? Did Kev go slippin' you a length out the back or somethin'?" She joked.

"Ew! No! But now you mention it..." She grinned as Monique just rolled her eyes at her friend's dirty mind. "No, I got taken up the road in that car that nearly torched us. It was so fucking fast I nearly wet myself, Mo! It was like being in a bullet with wheels!"

"Wow. Sounds like you had fun." Monique replied in a slightly bored voice.

Kim didn't pick up on it due to her state of excitement. "Oh hell yes! It was brilliant!"

"Well good for you, but I'm getting a bit bored. Do you mind if we get outta here soon?" Asked Monique.

Kim pouted slightly at this, but realised none of her friends were into cars as much as she had become. "Yeah, I spose so. Lemme go find Kev to tell him we're going."

"Kay, but don't take too long. I'll see you back at the cars." Monique sighed. What was she gonna do with her adrenaline junkie friend?

Kim wandered through the cars until she spotted the familiar matt black paintjob of Kev's Nova and trotted over to it. Kev was strapped in waiting for the racing to start. He'd already had his practice run and was lined up next to a car from the opposing crew looking rather tense.

She knocked on his window to get his attention. As he wound it down, Kim said, "Me and Monique are gonna head off. She's getting bored."

"Okay Kim. It was good to see you. You gonna come down next week?" He asked hopefully.

"Yeah, it was great seeing you, too. I dunno if I'll be back next week. Seeing your car, I got some plans for the Almighty to get it handling well enough and going fast enough to be competitive." She winked, smirking.

"Heh. Fair enough. Well, you know where we are now, so don't stay a stranger." He warned playfully.

"Not a chance." She promised, and leant in the window to give him a quick kiss on the cheek before running off back to the warehouse and her car, which she now had big plans for. She'd finally be able to wipe that self-satisfied smirk off Bonnie's face at having the sportier car. 'Oh yes. This'll be fun!' She silently decided.

She spent the remainder of the school year doing odd jobs for anyone that would pay to gather the funds needed to turn her car from tatty classic to supersleeper, and come the holidays, the Almighty was hidden away in the garage for the great transformation. Almost on a daily basis, boxes and crates were delivered to the Possible residence containing all sorts of exotic performance goodies for the Almighty. Ohlins suspension kits, Brembo brake setups, various RX7 engines and gearboxes and a Ford 9" axle out of an old Mustang were some of the things the teen hero had been after.

FOOTNOTE: First chapter of my first ever big story. Reviews welcome, good, bad or ugly. Can't get better if I dunno what I'm doing wrong. I know there's no school scenes or missions in this chapter. Reason being, it woulda been monumentally fucking colossal and a story in itself. That and I didn't have any decent ideas for 'em. So ner. P

This chapter was gonna be absolutely fecking huge as it was before I decided to cut it in half. Still working on the other half, which is now gonna be chapter 2, obviously. Might be a while though cuz I got a lot of new ideas to work into it. Big thanks to immortal7 for suggesting them. D


	2. Higher, Higher, Burning Fire

AUTHOR'S NOTE

I don't own any of the registered trademarked names in this chapter.

You'll get an inkling as to why Kim is a little more… spirited than in the cartoon this chapter. Don't feel too sorry for the poor sap on the receiving end. He kinda deserves it…

Oh, and we're ignoring the fact that Ron has a moped in the cartoon. I got plans to get him his own mode of transport soon. Probably next chapter.

Sorry the beginning of this chapter doesn't quite fit in with the end of the last chapter, but I thought I'd elaborate on the break-in, which meant I had to backtrack in time slightly. Still, means I was able to work in a few ideas I came up with.

WARNING: This chapter contains sexual references towards the end. Don't like it, don't read it. Although it being rated 'M' should be warning enough.

Chapter 2: Higher, Higher, Burning Fire

After Kim got back from the race meet that night, she pulled into the drive and got out, heading to her room via the outside staircase her parents had got Jim and Tim to build after getting sick of Kim traipsing through the house leaving oily footprints on the carpet. She rang the bell twice to let her parents know she was back as she passed the front door.

She began pondering over the information she'd gained from overhearing Kev's conversation with the rival crew. Could it have been Shego? And why would she target one driver's car in particular? And a girl's car at that? It confused her no end. She decided to call Wade up and see if he could shed any light on the sitch.

She sat on the foot of her bed and reached in her pocket for her Kimmunicator, pulled it out and turned it on, having to wait a moment for Wade to crawl out of bed and get settled in front of the computer.

He yawned. "Hnnnnngh! Wossup Kim? Bit late to be calling on a night off isn't it?" He commented, stretching and rubbing his eyes. He glanced at the clock and saw the time displayed was 10:27.

"Heh. Yeah, sorry Wade. Didn't realise it was so late. I got a hunch I need checking out. Could you see if any Holden Monaros have been stolen lately and if any spray shops have had one in for a green and black respray?" Asked Kim, a hint of nerves in her voice.

"Sure thing, Kim. Gimme a minute…" He said, his fingers already flying across the keyboard in a blur. Within the minute, he had the information Kim was after. "I've not got any Monaros coming up as stolen, but I pulled up private purchases of the whole area and I got a fishy purchase under the name of Shayla Elvyra Gonash. Didn't leave a forwarding address and paid cash. And it doesn't take a genius to work out whose alter ego uses the first letters of those names…" He sighed. He was a little pleased that he'd finally been able to find out Shego's real name, though. It meant he would finally be able to do some digging in his free time.

Kim was a little shocked at finding out Shego's real name. It was nothing like she'd imagined it to be, but she thought it suited her nicely and she smiled to herself before realizing what she was doing. 'Hold on a minute! I'm smiling over thoughts of Shego? What. The. Fuck. Head in the game, girl! She's the one who tries on a regular basis to flambé and tenderize you like a prime steak!' She thought to herself.

Then the voice of reason piped up: _'Yeah, but she's never actually tried to kill you or cause you any serious damage has she? No. And have you noticed she's never as bitchy during or after fighting you? Or the fact she's always trying to suppress a smile with that scowl whenever she sees you? And you can't deny the fact she's absolutely stunning.'_ She started to blush despite herself before frowning. 'Yeah, ok, point taken, now shut up! And I do NOT find her attractive!' The voice of reason smirked at her. _'Liar.'_ It spat before shutting up.

"Kim? Kim! KIM!" Wade was growing a bit impatient with trying to get her attention. She'd completely zoned out and he wondered what she wanted with the info he'd got.

She eventually came back to reality. "Wha? Oh! Sorry Wade. I zoned out for a bit there." She said dismissively. "Naw! You don't say? I've only been shouting your name for the past few minutes." Wade teased. She blushed again. "Sorry Wade. My bad." "Eh, no big." He smiled, sticking out his tongue. "So what did you want this info for anyway?" He inquired.

After explaining to Wade about the break-in, leaving out the fact she'd been naughty by going to an illegal street racing meet, she asked Wade if he could locate the site of the break-in. "What for, Kim? If they're street racers, they're not likely to have got the police involved or even made it public knowledge outside the racing scene." He pointed out.

"Hmmm… You got a point actually. Can you get up any CCTV footage of the Monaro anywhere in Lowerton? It might help narrow the search for where it happened." Suggested Kim. "Good idea. I'll let the computers work on it overnight. Right now, I'm going back to bed. I'll let you know in the morning what they come up with." He stifled a yawn before saying goodnight and cutting the connection.

Kim took her boots off and headed to the shower she'd had installed in a corner of her room, stripping as she did so. She was still thinking about Shego and what the little voice of reason had pointed out to her. Did she find Shego attractive? She wasn't going to deny that her emerald-toned nemesis wasn't attractive, but Kim was having a hard time coming up with arguments other than 'But I'm straight!' to defend the 'fact' – her mind used the term loosely - that she didn't find Shego sexually attractive.

She quickly gave her nude form the once-over in the mirror, checking for any marks, bruises or anything… else…

She paused, looking at her figure as if for the first time. It struck her that she was actually a very attractive female, something she'd never really thought about before.

She started at her ankles, travelling up her slender shins and toned thighs, slowing down as she reached her crotch, 'I wonder what I'd feel like shaven…' Kim thought, absent-mindedly running her fingers through her pubic hair, before travelling upwards again, over her flat, well-toned stomach and slim waist to her pert breasts, the only area of her body she'd ever really worried about. She had always looked at the other girls on the cheerleading team with a shallow envy. They were all bigger than her, and she had often silently wished to wake up a cup size larger.

She sighed, knowing it wasn't going to happen. Turning round, she looked over her shoulder. She did have a nice arse though. Something she'd always been secretly proud of. 'Shego probably thinks the same thing whenever we fight.' The bad girl in her muttered quietly in a smug voice, breaking Kim out of her reverie. "Oh shut up!" She said out loud and stormed over to the shower.

Stepping in the shower, she turned on the water with the nozzle pointed to one side, waiting for the water to warm up. She was going to have a nice, hot shower to relax and take her mind off things, she decided.

While in the shower, Kim decided to shave, 'Just for the hell of it.' She told herself. She didn't do a very good job, but put that down to it being the 'first time' and everything. She did notice how it immediately felt draughtier, but also more liberating in a way. Kim decided she'd definitely keep doing it.

After finishing her shower, Kim got out and wandered across to her wardrobe, drying herself as she went, thankfully not having to worry about wet carpets as she'd laid down some industrial-grade lino she was given as a thank-you on the completion of one of her missions.

She dug out a pair of girl's boxers and a loose t-shirt and put them on, throwing the towel in her laundry basket before flopping down on her bed and crawling under the covers, falling asleep in minutes.

Kim woke to the sound of her Kimmunicator going off. She was gonna have to get Wade to come up with a new tone for that thing cuz it was driving her nuts! She reached over and pulled it off the bedside table and answered it, blearily cracking open a single eye.

"Wossup? 'Sbett'r be good to wake me up this early on a fuckin' Sunday." The heroine grunted at the decidedly irritating device.

"Morning Kim!" Wade chirped in an overly cheerful voice. Kim decided he was doing it on purpose and merely grunted "Bollocks." In response. Wade laughed. "I got that security footage you asked for. You wanna see it?" "Email it to me or something. It's too early to deal with this shit. Woss the time anyway?" Asked Kim. "7:45am." Replied Wade. "What the fuck?! Why in god's name did you wake me up this early?! Jeez, Wade! Call me back _after_ the rest of the planet's woken up! For god's sake!" She clicked the Kimmunicator off without saying goodbye and buried her head under her pillow and went back to sleep.

Kim's alarm went off at ten, making her jump. She rolled over and hit the godforsaken device with enough force to destroy most normal clocks, but that one remained intact, now silent. Wade had designed it for her after she'd complained that any money she earned seemed to be spent on new alarm clocks.

Dragging herself out of bed, she turned her computer on as she walked down the stairs to the bathroom. After finishing up in there, she went downstairs for breakfast and was greeted by her parents and Ron. "Hey KP! How's it hangin'?" She flashed him a look that said 'don't ask' and shuffled over to the table, sitting down. "Oooh, rough night huh? Say no more." He smiled, pouring Kim a bowl of cereal while still eating his own, helped, as always, by Rufus.

The tweebs suddenly burst into the room in their usual mental manner, then caught sight of Kim, still in what she'd worn in bed.

"Hey, nice t-shirt Kim!"

"Where'd you find that? The baby box at-"

"Smarty-mart?"

They both laughed like drains and stood there pulling stupid faces at her.

Kim looked down at her t-shirt and saw that it was the one she had worn when she was still into Care Bears at the tender age of 9. And it was a pink Care Bear at that, and everyone knew her long-founded loathing of pink things.

"Great. Out of all the t-shirts I coulda grabbed, it had to be this one! You little bastards are gonna die!" Kim roared as she jumped up from the table and gave chase to the cackling irritations.

They saw her coming and bolted from the kitchen like cats on speed, still laughing as they made it up the stairs and out of sight.

Their mother held out an arm in front of Kim, barring her path. "No you don't young lady. No chasing the twins until you've had some breakfast. You hardly eat as it is, what with all these missions, school and working on that infernal car!"

"Humph. Whatever. I'LL GET YOU LATER, _TWEEBS_!!" She spat the last word with contempt. She really was in no mood to be ripped into by those two.

She sat back down to her breakfast when Ron noticed something peculiar. "KP, are you smuggling raisins or something, cuz, y'know, the tee ain't giving the ol' imagination much to do." Rufus agreed. "Uh huh! Raisins!"

Kim glared at him for a second. "You know, most boys would have sat there, enjoyed the view and not said anything. Or at least _not_ in front of my parents!"

At that, they had the decency to pretend they hadn't heard anything, Mr. P retreating further behind his paper and Mrs. P busying herself with the washing up, making sure to make a suitable racket, although both were having a hard job to keep from smirking.

Ron also had the decency to look suitably stupid. "K. Just thought I'd mention it, y'know." He replied in a small voice. "Oy! Burned!" Sighed Rufus, doing the facepalm gesture and shaking his head.

After finishing breakfast, Kim and Ron retreated to her room to watch the security footage Wade had found.

"Er, KP, why are we watching this again?" Asked Ron, not quite grasping her vague reasoning.

Kim sighed. "We're watching this because I've got a hunch. See the green and black car there?" Ron nodded. "It was spotted leaving a street racing gang's territory close to their lockup at high speed, and one of their cars was damaged."

"And you know this how? Last I checked you weren't into ILLEGAL STREET RACING!" Ron emphasized in his usual overly dramatic fashion; hand waving, raised voice, etc.

"Ron! Shut the fuck up you moron!" Kim hissed at him in a low voice. "If you must know, I went to a race meeting last night, purely by accident, and overheard a conversation about it. I've got a hunch it was Shego. Although why she'd do it is beyond me."

Ron sat there with his mouth hanging open stunned for a moment. Kim? At an illegal street racing meeting? It didn't compute in his somewhat black-and-white-thinking mind and it showed. "You were hangin' out with street racers?!" He exclaimed in a disbelieving voice. His lack of voice control earned him a slap.

"Ow! What was that for?" He asked, rubbing his rapidly reddening cheek.

"For being a complete twat and yelling when I'd told you to shut up!" Kim snapped. She turned back to her computer and continued watching the security footage closely. He wisely chose to leave it at that and clammed up.

Ron's incessantly dippy behaviour was wearing dangerously thin with her. Once upon a time, she'd found it cute and endearing. Now it just got on her nerves. She wished, no, prayed that he would actually try to use his brain in conjunction with his oversized ears and at least attempt to understand what she was saying, rather than needing to have it spoon-fed to him when it involved anything other than food or sex.

After a few minutes Kim grinned. "Gotcha!" She whispered. On the screen, a figure wearing all black was getting out of a green and black Holden Monaro not too far away from another dilapidated-looking warehouse. "Now, let's see where you go…" Kim mumbled, half to herself, half to the monitor. The disguised Shego walked across the street and their pace slowed to an amble, head looking upwards as she walked alongside the building, then disappeared.

"What the fuck?" Kim asked aloud. She restarted the footage just before the masked figure vanished and slowed it down to ¼ speed. She saw her ambling, then, in the blink of an eye, she whipped out a grappling gun, fired, and was hauled upwards and out of the camera's range.

Kim paused the video before calling up Wade. "Wade, where was the camera located that you got that 4th video from?" He frowned. "Hold on a minute while I pull it up… Got it! You want me to send the coordinates through to your Kimmunicator?" "Please and thank-you." She said, smiling.

-------------------

After Kim had dressed in something close to her mission gear, albeit missing the belt and the cargo trousers were cut off just below the knees, and woken up a bit more, Ron was following her across town to Lowerton, led by the directions on the Kimmunicator.

"I don't see why we couldn't have gone in your car, Kim. I mean, it's not like it's broken any more, right? We coulda been there, come back and been diggin' some serious snackage in Bueno Nacho by now!" Ron whined, upset that he wasn't being chauffeured about like he was usually. He hadn't grasped the concept of actually working for something yet.

Kim sighed. She was going to have to have a talk with Ron about his leeching. "We're not going in my car for the simple reason I don't want to. I haven't got the fuel, I haven't got the money and I haven't got the inclination. Besides, as of yesterday, I've decided I'm going to turn it into a sleeper and I'm taking it off the road while I do the work." She explained, a slight smirk appearing on her face as she thought of all the people she was going to annoy with it when she was done.

"Oh, ok." Mumbled Ron, sounding slightly put out. He didn't like the sound of having to walk everywhere until Kim got her car finished.

Kim noticed the tone. Her mood immediately descended to anger. Again. "You could always get a job and your own transport you know Ron. It's not like you lead an especially busy life outside school." She forced herself to sound civil.

"Yeah, but you know me KP, that's too much like hard work. All the time you got your car, I don't need to worry." He said offhandedly.

Kim snapped. She'd had enough of Ron leeching off her. "I don't think you quite understand where I'm coming from." She started in an eerily calm voice, which stopped Ron in his tracks instantly. "I'm sick to death of carrying you, Ron! I'm not a fucking bottomless pit of generosity for you to help yourself from! Science projects I have to do myself because you're too FUCKING LAZY to pull your own weight, CONSTANTLY saving your ass from EVERYTHING, having to explain things over and over again because you're too fucking BONE IDLE to use your head and your ears at the same time, chauffeuring you round in MY CAR at the drop of a hat and god knows what else! You can't leech off me forever Ron! One of these days you're gonna have to stand on your own two feet and stop relying on me to get you out of whatever problem you've gotten yourself into! You're 17, not 7!" She yelled at him, hardly pausing for breath.

Ron stood there dumbfounded. He had no idea Kim could be so harsh. He also had no idea how much he took for granted and how much of an arsehole he'd been, expecting Kim to be there for him whenever he needed her. Which, in hindsight, was a hell of a lot.

He sighed. "You're right Kim. And I'm sorry. I never realised how much I took you for granted. Man, I been a real idiot huh?"

"You could say that." Kim spat through gritted teeth. It felt so good to have finally got that off her chest but the anger at him was lingering. His apology didn't quite cut it, at least not at the moment.

She decided to focus on the task at hand and fume in silence. "Let's get going. We still gotta find this warehouse." Kim said, still a hint of bitterness in her voice. "Yeah, ok KP. Hey, maybe after, we can hit Bueno Nacho? My treat." Ron offered, hoping to try and diffuse Kim's lingering aggro.

Kim sighed, her anger draining. She knew he didn't do it intentionally, but it annoyed her how oblivious he could be. "Yeah Ron. Sounds cool. Listen, sorry for blowing up on you like that."

"Hey, no worries Kim. I needed it." Ron smiled to show it was 'no big'. They both lapsed into silence and set off towards Lowerton again.

On getting to the warehouse, they decided to poke about a bit and see if they could find anything or anyone. They didn't have to wait long. After a few minutes, one of the gang's cars pulled up and three well-built men got out and surrounded them. "Anythang we can he'p you wit, missy?" One of them asked. He was well over 6 foot tall, obviously of African origin with a very deep, rumbling voice and very muscular. He reminded Kim of one of the bouncers outside a rock club she'd been to once.

"Um, actually, I was wondering if we could help you. I got word you'd had a break-in and one of your cars got trashed? I got a hunch who did it but I'd like to ask a few questions." Kim answered, putting on a falsely confident appearance. The three men made her nervous. She knew something of the street racing scene and was pretty sure they were carrying guns.

The men exchanged glances before the one that had spoken before, spoke again. "Get inna car. We'll talk while we drive." He motioned to the car they'd got out of.

After they were all seated, they drove off. "So befo' we answer anythang, just who the hell are you an' how the hell did you know where to find us?" The black man asked.

"My name's Kim Possible, this is Ron Stoppable, and that last one's not important. All you need to know is we're here to help." Answered Kim simply.

"Ok, fine. So whatchoo wanna know from us?" The man asked.

"An introduction would be nice." Said Kim in a sweet voice.

"Whatever. Ah'm Bo, the driver's Phil and he's Balls. Now, down to business. Whatchoo wanna know?" He asked again.

"Well, I'd really like to speak to the driver of the damaged car, see if she can tell us anything that might give us a motive, unless you can tell us anything about her? Also, being able to get a look around the place, see how they got in, if they left any distinguishing marks or anything."

Bo frowned for a minute. "Well, ah don' know if ah can get you into the lockup, but ah can put you in touch with the driver. As for what ah know about her, all's ah can tell ya is that she's into chicks and her latest ex was a real nutcase. Few people thinkin' it was her that did it, but she never got brought down to the lockup, so she wouldn't know where it was."

Kim hid her surprise. If her hunch was right, that would mean Shego was a lesbian, or at least bisexual, and for some reason, a small part of her rejoiced. She told it to shut up. She was straight after all. Wasn't she…? The more she fought with Shego, the more she began to question that fact. Still, she'd worry about that later…

"Right, ok, yeah, if you could put me in touch with her, that'd be great. And if you could see what you can do about getting me a look round your lockup, that would be even better." Kim replied after a moment's pause.

Bo reached in his pocket and pulled out his phone. "Hold on a mo' an' ah'll give you her number." He flicked through the numbers on his phone for a while. "You ready?" He asked Kim.

She had the Kimmunicator in her hand already. "Yup. Hit me." She answered.

Bo read out the number and her name, Kim typed it into the Kimmunicator and saved it. "If ya hold on, ah'll give the boss man a call an' see if ah can get ya inside." Bo offered, before pressing the 'call' button on his phone and indicating for them to be quiet.

After the phonecall, Bo told the driver to head back to the lockup. "We can letcha inside, but we gotta wait for the boss man to turn up. He wants to make sure ya are who ya say ya are." Bo informed them.

"That's ok." Replied Kim. "It means I can ask him a few questions as well."

They parked in a space a fair distance away from the doors of the warehouse and waited for a few minutes. When the 'boss man' turned up, they waited for him to open the doors before following him in. Bo was the first one out of the car to shut the doors behind them.

Kim and Ron got out of the car behind him and walked over to the 'boss man'. "Hey, you gotta be Kim Possible. I'm Vic, leader of the Blood Tribe. What you want help with?" He asked in a friendly manner.

"Hey, I just wanna pick your brains on this break-in you had the other night? I got a hunch on who it was, I just want some info to help confirm it." Kim answered.

"Oh right. Cool. Hey, Bo, you an' the boys can get back on patrol now. I'm good here." Vic said to the three men.

"Cool, Boss. Nice ta meetcha, Kim, Ron. Might see you 'round sometime." With that, they left, closing the door behind them.

"Now, what ya wanna know?" Vic asked.

----------------------------

After asking Vic a few questions and having a look around the place, the entry point in the roof having been made with a plasma blast, the lack of any fingerprints on any of the damaged parts, the scorch marks on the damaged bodywork and the gaping hole in the old engine block that looked like someone had been at it with a giant oxy-acetylene torch were all Kim needed to see to tell that it was Shego's work.

They bid Vic goodbye with the promise they'd find who'd done it and get them to cough up for the repair bills.

"The part I don't get is why Shego woulda bothered, y'know. It's just not her style. She's all about the big entries and causing as much damage as poss. I just don't get it, Kim." Ron sighed.

Kim sighed as well. "I know. I don't quite get it either, although I got my suspicions. Let's go see this… Shelly. Once I got a few answers from her, I'll let you know if I'm right or not."

"That's cool, KP. So, where does she live?" Ron asked.

"Good point. I suppose I'd better call her and find out." Kim rung the number that Bo had given her and after a quick conversation, Kim hung up. "She lives somewhere close to Lowerton's Bueno Nacho. Means you can buy me that Grande Naco you promised me." She smirked.

"What? Hey! I never promised you a Grande Naco! That's not fair!" Ron whined.

Kim laughed. "Okay, how about a race there? If you lose, you buy me a Grande Naco. If I lose, I'll just have a regular." She challenged.

"Yeah, y'know, that's still not fair. Running has never been one of my strong points. I'll just buy you the goddamn Grande Naco." Ron huffed.

"Booyah!" Kim cheered, using Ron's catchphrase to great effect.

After leaving Bueno Nacho, they headed over to Shelly's house and knocked. A redhead answered the door. She was slightly taller than Kim with a hair tone closer to her mum's and slightly bigger in the bust area. She looked rather similar to Kim, the only real difference being the brown eyes. They all stood there a little stunned for a moment, Ron's mouth hanging open like something out of a Tom and Jerry cartoon.

"Err… hi. I-I'm Kim. A-are you Shelly?" Kim managed to get out as her brain took a long time to return to normal function. She reached over and shut Ron's mouth for him, but he continued to stare like a rabbit in headlights.

"Um, yeah. Wow! It's almost like looking in a mirror." She answered with a slight chuckle. "Please, come in." She motioned for them to come inside. Kim followed, having to drag Ron by the shirt as he was still in a state of shock.

They settled in her front room. "So, what do you need to know from me?" Shelly asked.

"Well, if you don't mind, a brief description of your latest ex would be helpful. I should be able to tell you the rest from there." Kim offered.

"Yeah, no worries, although I gotta ask, is your friend alright? He seems awfully quiet." Shelly asked with a hint of concern.

Kim laughed. "Heh. Yeah, he's ok. He's just a bit funny with weird coincidences like this." She indicated her and Shelly's looks. "He takes a bit longer than most people to take it in."

Ron snapped out of his shock and shook his head. "I do not! I just like to make sure I digest every detail." He huffed defensively, folding his arms and slumping back on the sofa.

"Yeah, it takes him a while to take it in." Kim said in a low voice, smirking. Shelly giggled.

"I heard that!" Grumbled Ron.

"Anyway," Shelly began. "My last ex, she was pretty tall with an amazing figure, but what a temper! I've never met someone with such a short fuse! Made for some interesting times in the sack though." She giggled again, making Kim blush with the mental imagery. "She had long, black hair that had a slight green shimmer, and very pale green skin. And she could do this amazing trick with her hands too. I've never come so hard in my life!" She finished, her eyes glazing over and a smile working it's way onto her face.

"Waaaaay TMI!" Kim burst out, blushing furiously. "Yeah, that sounds like Shego alright." She stated, trying to fight the embarrassment.

Shelly laughed. "You're pretty cute when you blush." She said with a wink, which made Kim blush even harder. She wasn't used to compliments, especially from girls.

Shelly changed the subject. "So you know my ex then? How come?"

"Yeah, I know her. We fight on a regular basis. She works for a mad scientist bent on world domination." Kim said in a bored voice, as if it was nothing out-of-the-ordinary. "So how come you two broke up?" Kim probed. For some reason she was fascinated with this new-found titbit concerning Shego's sexuality.

Shelly sighed. "It was my fault really I suppose. I had a suspicion she was cheating on me. All the times she disappeared in the middle of the night, not coming back 'til the morning, coming home after work, I assume with that mad scientist you said she works with, grinning like the cat that got the cream, too tired to have sex… Things like that. I confronted her about it, she obviously denied it, I called her a liar, we had a big argument and I told her it was over and to get out. But that was at least 2 months ago. I don't think it could have been her. She doesn't even know where our lockup is." She finished, sounding slightly confused.

Kim sat there, taking it all in for a moment before coming out of her reverie. "I'm sorry to have to tell you, but it was definitely Shego that trashed your car. I've been fighting her for years and I'd know her plasma burns anywhere. I've got a few scars that can attest to that." She said, pulling up a sleeve and showing off four symmetrical lines that went diagonally round her upper arm.

"Ooh, nasty. I didn't know she could be so violent." Shelly said sympathetically.

"Heh. You get used to it in my line of work. She doesn't get a hit in very often." Kim answered smugly, rolling her sleeve back down.

Shelly smiled. "Well next time you see her, tell her I said to play nicer."

It was Kim's turn to laugh. "I'll try, but I don't think she'll listen."

With that, Kim and Ron got up to leave. They exchanged pleasantries and headed back to Middleton.

-------------------------------

A few weeks later, Kim had stashed all the tuning parts for the Almighty's big makeover in the back of the garage and in her room, much to her parent's unending displeasure, and was in the middle of removing the front suspension when her father came in.

"Kimmie-cub, I've just heard on the news that one of your favourite bands is playing at the stadium all of next week. Skid Pan? Skid Row? Something like that." He waved it off, knowing that Kim would figure it out.

"Oh. My. God. Skid row?! In MIDDLETON?! I've died and gone to heaven!" She squealed. She quickly finished stripping the front end down, earning herself several scraped knuckles and lots of admonishment from her parents at her bad language, and spent the rest of the night on the internet hunting down tickets. She knew no-one else she knew would be interested in going, which was fine by her. It meant she didn't have to arrange to meet anyone there and could just enjoy the gig.

She went into school the next morning sporting one of her many Skid Row t-shirts and was listening to them on her Kimmunicator. She opened her locker only to have it slammed shut and her earphones ripped out by Tera, who was almost bursting with excitement. "Kim! Have you heard? The Oh Boyz are playing at the theatre next Thursday! It's gonna be the concert of the century!" She practically screamed in Kim's face. Several of the other cheerleaders had gathered and were now joining in with the girly screaming. Kim cringed. "What the fuck? Why? They're shit! I'm going to see Skid Row at the stadium all next week! It's gonna be epic!" "Who?" Asked several of the girls. "My...GOD! How can you NOT know who Skid Row are?! They're like... the Godfathers of Hair Rock! Jeez! I'm working with idiots!" She stuck her earphones back in and stormed off to class, leaving behind some very confused cheerleaders.

The rest of the morning was spent avoiding anyone who looked remotely happy for fear of being forced to put up with more girly squealing about the 'Oh Boyz'.

She met up with Ron at lunch in Bueno Nacho. "Hey Ron. How's it going?" She asked.

"It's going absolutely fantastic actually. Guess who just scored two tickets to the concert of the century in an eating contest today." He challenged her in a smug voice, checking his nails in an offhand manner. Rufus poked his head out of Ron's pocket once they'd sat down and scurried onto the table to help himself to Ron's lunch.

Kim sighed. "You did." She didn't like where this was going at all.

"Booyah! And they're front row too! You wanna come with?" He asked expectantly.

Kim's insides sank to her feet. 'Oh jeez… How do I tell my best friend I'd rather stuff knitting needles through my eardrums than listen to the 'Oh Boyz' sing mushy rip-offs of Papa Roach songs?' "Uh, Ron, I can't. I've already got tickets to go and see Skid Row. Sorry."

"Oh. Well… uh… couldn't you sell them to someone else? Cuz the Oh Boyz are gonna be bangin' dude!" Ron exclaimed, punching the air. "Uh huh! Bangin'!" Squeaked Rufus, nodding.

Kim groaned and slumped forward, banging her head on the table. "What's up KP?" Ron asked, once again oblivious to what the action meant. "Ron, let me put this in plain English. I think the 'Oh Ballz' suck dick. Most of their songs are mushy rip-offs of Papa Roach songs and I doubt they've got any real talent between the lot of them. So no. I'm not gonna sell my tickets and I'm definitely not going to their gig." She stated with a sense of finality that went straight over Ron's head.

"But… But…" Ron stammered.

"No 'buts', Ron. I'm not going and that's the end of it. Why don't you ask one of the cheerleaders or something? Tera seemed pretty hyped about the concert. Maybe she'll go with you." Kim suggested.

"Huh? Why her?" He inquired, slightly confused.

"You doofus!" Kim snapped. "Are you really that short-sighted? She's only been lusting after your sorry ass for the past few months!" Kim informed him bluntly.

"Well why did nobody tell me?! It's not like I can read minds!" He bitched.

"Jeezus! She wasn't exactly trying to hide it from you, Ron! All those times she offered to be your science project partner? Study partner? Asking to borrow stuff of you? It never clicked?" She asked, incredulous to her best friend's lack of ability to spot the obvious.

"Uh, no…" Ron answered in a small voice.

"You're hopeless." Kim stated. Rufus agreed, nodding his head. "Hopeless!"

Ron scowled at Rufus. "Oh thanks, buddy." He said dejectedly.

They finished the rest of their lunch in silence, Ron trying to decide on the best way to approach Tera about asking her to the convert, and Kim wondering what she did to deserve such an unbelievably oblivious best friend.

Kim spent the rest of the day avoiding everyone, full stop. She even resorted to using the air conditioning ducts to get from class to class to avoid the constant twittering about those talentless pretty-boys.

After school, she met up with Ron, who looked decidedly bummed out. "Hey Ron, what's up?"

"Tera's already going to the gig with Josh Mankey." He said simply.

"Ooh, bad luck, Ron. I'm sure you'll find someone else to go with…" She offered, sounding more confident about it than she felt.

Kim managed to get the rest of the week over without hearing too much about the 'Oh Boyz' concert. She spent the weekend working on her car and come Monday night, she was practically buzzing with excitement. She'd got her ticket for the night, was dressed for the occasion in army boots, her tattiest, most oil-stained pair of jeans, her favourite Skid Row t-shirt with a scene from the 'Youth Gone Wild' video printed on the front and an old leather jacket her mum had given her from when she was a teenager.

She walked downstairs to tell her parents she'd be out late and that she had a key.

"Excuse me young lady, but your curfew is 10pm sharp. Any later and you'll be grounded for a week! And you can forget about leaving the house looking like that!" Mr. Dr. P stated seriously.

"Well you should have thought about that before telling me that Skid Row were playing all this week. I'm going to the gig every night and staying until it's finished come hell or high water and there is absolutely nothing you can do to stop me!" Kim yelled back, a look in her eyes that dared her father to try and make her do otherwise.

Mrs. Dr. P sat there calmly drinking her tea. "She's got you there, honey. And if I were you, I'd let it go for this week. Don't forget, we were young once."

He sighed. She was right, as usual. "Okay Kim, but only for this week. Don't expect this kind of leniency on a regular basis."

Kim smiled and hugged her parents. "Thanks mum, thanks dad! You have no idea how much I appreciate this!" She chirped.

"Ok, go on and have fun. But be careful!" Her mother warned as she headed out the door.

"I will!" Kim promised.

The concert passed in a blur of beer drinking, headbanging and loud music. Kim eventually stumbled up her outdoor staircase around 2am, feeling like someone was beating her round the head with a sledgehammer. Her throat was raw from all the singing along and her vision was blurry from all the booze, but she didn't regret a second. It was everything she'd expected and more, and was already looking forward to the next one. She didn't even manage to get her boots off before flopping down on her bed and passing out.

Her alarm woke her up with a start. Kim groaned at the piercing sound and reached over to shut it off. She slowly sat up and waited for the room to stop spinning. She then decided in a split-second that the room could spin all it wanted, she had to get to the toilet – NOW! She jumped up and bolted down the stairs, making it to the bathroom just in time to spew her guts up in the toilet, ignoring the fact the Tweebs were in there brushing their teeth.

"Ew!"

"Gross!"

"Couldn't you have-"

"At least warned us before-"

"Doing that?"

They asked, looking thoroughly disgusted.

She looked up from her place hugging the toilet bowl with a look that asked 'Have you no sympathy?' before resuming her task of vomiting unceremoniously down the pan.

The tweebs didn't even bother finishing before evacuating the vicinity at top speed to avoid having to watch their sister hurl.

She rinsed her mouth out in the sink and took a few long slurps from the tap. She didn't care that it was the bathroom sink, all she cared about was the fact it was water, it was cold, and it was gooooooood.

Stumbling downstairs, she got a knowing look from both her parents which she returned by giving them the finger and going to pour herself some coffee.

She sat down at the table and sipped her coffee slowly, cradling the mug like it was sacred.

"Have a good time, Kimmie-cub?" Her father asked, smirking. She looked up at him and nodded slowly before returning to her coffee.

"Need… Food." She croaked, her voice still gone from the singing.

"What would you like dear? Fried egg and bacon sandwich?" Asked her mother, knowing from experience that all you want after a night out is something hot and greasy.

Kim looked at her mother like she was the giver of life itself and managed to nod, only now noticing her neck felt like she'd been using it to hold up the Golden Gate Bridge. 'I am never headbanging like that again!' She silently vowed.

She somehow managed to get to school on time, noticing just how long the walk was because she was hung-over. She also hadn't bothered to change from the night before, so stank of stale beer, cigarette smoke and sweat, but decided she couldn't care less.

School came and went in a bit of a blur. She couldn't really focus on anything due to the pain in her neck and the constant fight with her stomach to make it keep it's contents where it was. She did get a fair few odd looks from fellow classmates at her appearance and somewhat funky odour.

She got in and headed straight for her room and the shower, turning it up nice and hot and staying there until her mother called her for dinner. She ate what she could, which wasn't much, and headed to her room again to get ready for tonight's gig.

She didn't bother finding any clean clothes for the gig because they'd end up smelling just as bad, so she put what she'd worn last night, and all day, back on and headed out the door again, looking forward to doing it all again. Hey, she could do anything, which included mastering a hangover and going back for more punishment!

The next morning, Kim went through the same routine of bolting for the toilet, drinking from the sink tap and keeping her neck very still, and, once again, forgot to change out of her now 2-gig-old clothing.

The end of school rolled around, and Kim decided to pop into Club Banana to check out their new range of cyberpunk clothing. Monique, as usual, wandered over and started chatting. "Hey girl. How's it hangin'? Oh, listen, me an' the girls are headin' over to my place tomorrow after school to watch some Oh Boyz DVD's on the box. You wanna come with? Although I suggest you change out of them funky-smellin' threads! Jeez, girl, you smell like you been sleepin' in a dumpster!"

Kim looked at Monique like she was stupid. "Uh, hello? In case you haven't noticed, I've been wearing the same stuff since Tuesday, coming into school with a hangover and surviving on Bueno Nacho, beer and red bull. So no. I'll be going to the gig again."

Monique gawped. "Girl, I thought I was making progress with your music tastes! Skid Row? SO last century!"

Kim laughed. "Ha! Not a chance! The only progress you've made is to get me to stop bitching every time you put on that shit you listen to. Now I just suffer in silence. And Skid Row rock harder than ever!"

"What is wrong witchoo? No other girl I know listens to heavy metal! You musta bin dropped on your head while you were a baby!" Monique stated like it was fact.

Kim rolled her eyes and leaned against the wall, one arm above her head and the other on her hip, causing her leather jacket to creak. "Oh thanks. FYI, I like music that gets your adrenaline going. This modern crap just gives me a headache and makes me want to slit my wrists. It's all about mushy shit like love, sex and failed relationships. All they got are their looks; even their voices are altered on a computer. They can't even play an instrument. It's pathetic."

Monique folded her arms and sighed, blowing a stray lock of hair out of her face. "Girl, you're a failed case. But respect for the sound argument."

Kim grinned smugly. "Thanks. Now, I got a gig to get ready for. H, and by the way, Ron's got a spare ticket to their gig if you wanna go."

"No way! For real? Man, I am SO there!" Monique squealed.

"Oy, I wish I'd kept my mouth shut now." Kim wandered out of the shop and went home.

She showered again and decided to at least change her t-shirt for another Skid Row top. She wandered downstairs for dinner and was accosted by her mother. "Kim! Are you still wearing the same clothes you went out in on Monday?!"

"Uh, yeah. Why?" Kim inquired, playing dumb. She knew how the clothes smelt, but really couldn't care less. She figured it wasn't worth changing just to end up smelling like a pub toilet again.

"Because you stink, Kim! It's actually quite repulsive!" Her mother shot at her.

"Well, put it this way, I'm not changing just to end up smelling like this all over again, so deal for a few days." Kim shot back, folding her arms and pouting.

"Okay, fine! Just put that face away! And you can eat dinner in your room. If you're not going to change, I don't see why the rest of the family should put up with your foul odour." Mrs. P reasoned.

Kim shrugged. "Meh. Sounds fair to me." She followed her mother into the kitchen, grabbed her plate and headed back upstairs.

The tweebs started to complain.

"Hey!"

"How come she-"

"Gets to eat in her-"

"Room and we-"

"Gotta eat down here?"

They whined.

"Because Kim smells like a public convenience and refuses to change out of those filthy clothes until after the last gig." Their mother informed them. The tweebs decided to store that piece of information for use at a later date.

After yet another repeat performance of the morning's events of throwing up, drinking coffee and walking out without changing, she staggered up to her locker and opened it.

"Hey Kim, you look rough. You sure you're fit to lead cheer practice after school today? Cuz, like, I'd be sooooooo disappointed if you didn't make it." Bonnie sneered.

Kim growled and slammed her locker shut, denting the door. She looked at Bonnie with bloodshot eyes and gave her an all-out death glare. "Take a good long look Bonnie, cuz this is what a monster hangover and 3 hours' sleep looks like. I'd like to see you come into school after the night I've had and stay coherent." She spat.

Bonnie was actually slightly unnerved by the look of pure hate in Kim's eyes, but hid it well. "Aww, turned to alcohol because you're such a misfit loser?" She drawled.

Kim laughed. "Heh! You wish! I was at the final Skid Row gig and it was fucking amazing! I got a backstage pass too, so I spent the rest of the evening after the gig getting smashed with the band. _So_ sorry to burst your bubble." She had a smug grin plastered across her face.

Bonnie scowled. "Humph. You think you're so cool just cuz you got to 'hang' with the band! _I_ got all the Oh Boyz numbers." It was Bonnie's turn to look smug now.

Kim snorted. "Whoopee. I didn't _just_ 'hang' you know. Big wow, you got no balls' numbers, I got multiple orgasms when the drummer licked me out. The rest of the band were pretty talented too. So shove that in your mobile and ring it, bitch." Kim said defiantly.

Bonnie stood there, shocked. "You… you slut!" She yelled in Kim's face.

"Wrong! Drunk and horny, and I just know how to have fun, unlike you. I got free backstage passes to all their gigs from now on, too." She folded her arms and proceeded to look uber-smug, just to piss Bonnie off that much more.

"Fuck you!" Was all Bonnie could get out in her almost blind rage and stormed off.

"Sorry! Don't swing that way!" Kim called after her. She reopened her locker, pulled out some aspirin and a can of Red Bull, downed both in rapid succession and wandered off to class.

It was true that she had got totally wasted and let the band have their way with her. She had been a virgin up until that point, but had had the sense to start taking the pill a while ago, just in case. She still couldn't quite believe it and felt a slight pang of remorse at having lost it in such a way, but on the flipside, how many other people could say they willingly had their cherry popped by one of the most awesome rock bands of all time? She decided that made up for it.

FOOTNOTE:

Well, that's chapter 2. Once again, reviews of all kinds welcome. And once again, I had to cut this one short cuz it was beginning to get to ridiculous lengths again. Like, 14 pages ridiculous.

Chapter 3 will see the return of Kim to the racing scene with a bit of a twist. You'll have to wait and see what that is, though. grins


	3. The Calm Before The Storm

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I got the ideas for the new cheerleader outfits from cyberdog (dot) net so if you're interested in what they look like, direct your browser over that way and have a gander. The colours I'm using aren't available though, so use your imagination. And Shego finally makes an appearance. Yay!

Chapter 3: The Calm Before The Storm

Kim left her last class of the day and headed for her locker to grab her cheerleading uniform and guzzle another can of Red Bull before heading off to the gym. She wanted to discuss a few things with them before they started, however.

She walked through the doors of the gym still not having changed and headed for the stalls, sitting down and fishing through her bag for a few things, spreading them out on the bench beside her.

"Is this your new look then, Kim? College bum?" Bonnie spat from the top of a cheerleader pyramid. The girls had already started practicing and had been halfway through a routine when Kim arrived.

"Get fucked, Bonnie. Might lighten your mood a bit." Kim said sharply, not looking up from what she was doing. Bonnie couldn't think up a quick enough reply, so merely huffed and jumped down from the pyramid.

"Right girls, I got a few things I wanna discuss before we start again, so gather round. I need your input. Bonnie, you can just disappear cuz I know what your reaction's gonna be already." She called over at them.

"Is that any way to speak to a fellow cheerleader?" Asked Bonnie in a mock-offended tone. "Surely we should all be present for anything that concerns the team?" She drawled, putting on a sickly-sweet expression that made a few of the others giggle and Kim roll her eyes.

"Under normal circumstances, yes. But as this concerns you, I'm making an exception. Every idea I've come up with so far you've disliked, so you can just piss off and pester someone else for once." Kim was looking Bonnie right in the eye with an expression that would send most other people running for cover. Even the rest of the girls backed away slightly.

Bonnie wisely took the hint and stormed off to the other end of the gym and sat by herself, deciding to call Brick and bitch to him.

"Right, now we've got rid of that problem, I got a few ideas on our outfits and I got a new CD I want your opinion on. I'm hoping it'll give us a bit of an edge over the competition, or at least make us stand out a bit more." Kim said hopefully.

She handed round a few computer printouts of tops and skirts she'd been looking at on the Club Banana website. They were from their new CyberDog range. "I've narrowed it down to two skirts and two tops. They're a bit more revealing than what we've got already, but I figured it'd keep us a step ahead of the opposition." She offered.

"I really like the Micro Cyber Kilt and Twister vest combo personally." Announced Tera. A few of the other girls agreed. Jessica shook her head. "I prefer the other two. The Rewind Crop Vest and Apocalyptic skirt look sooooooo good in pink and blue!"

After half an hour's squabbled discussion over the styles and combinations, they finally agreed on the Rewind Crop Vest and Micro Cyber Kilt combination in electric yellow and bright blue with neon red trim where possible, keeping somewhat to the Middleton's colour range. Kim scribbled down some notes on the setup and put the paperwork back in her bag.

"Now, for the music." Kim announced. She pulled a CD out of her bag and headed over to the CD player, pulling the CD out of the case and sticking it on her finger. Opening the disc drawer, she plucked out the old one and flung it over her shoulder like a Frisbee, narrowly missing Bonnie who had finally gotten bored with Brick and was sulking quietly at the edge of the group.

"Hey, watch it, Possible!" She yelled. "Oh, I'm sorry. I musta missed. I'll try harder next time." Kim mocked, not looking up from putting the new CD in the drawer and pressing the 'Play' button. After a few seconds, a heavy beat started from the speakers and Kim walked back over. It turned into a hardcore trance tune and the girls couldn't help but get into the groove. Well, everyone except Bonnie, who was still sulking.

"Everybody like it?" Kim called over the music. A resounding "Hell yeah!" came back to her and she smiled. "Okay, gimme a few minutes and I'll go and change. In the meantime, somebody get Bonnie out of her funk and get stretching!" Kim grabbed her cheerleader kit and headed to the changing room. She heard Bonnie shout "Screw you, Possible!" after her and smirked.

-----------------------------

After practice, she walked home, enjoying the slowly setting sun on her skin and the cool breeze in her hair. Her bag was over one shoulder and her leather jacket over the other. She was coming up to a junction and was checking the road to see if it was clear to cross.

A noise in the distance sparked her attention. It sounded similar to that 4-rotor engine in that racer's car, but it was more raw, more untamed, and it was getting closer. "What the fuck is that?" She asked out loud, turning round and squinting into the distance to see if she could spot it.

A few moments passed and the cause of the noise came into view. Kim could see it was tall and narrow, most likely a bike of some kind. She stood and waited. She had to know what it was.

It was coming up fast; it must have been doing well over the 35 limit of the area and was still accelerating. She noticed a thin haze of blue smoke behind it every time it changed gear. 'Odd…' She thought. Within a few seconds, it was at the other end of the block to her and going flat-out. She managed to get a good look at it as the rider started braking hard, blipping the throttle as he went down the gears. She made out the words 'Gas Gas' and 'supermotard' on the bodywork before the rider snapped the throttle open, causing the bike to oversteer massively, although he didn't look like he was about to crash.

He slid the bike round the corner, the rear tyre starting to smoke before the rider stood it up and accelerated down the road at a frightening pace with the front wheel about 2 feet in the air, changing up through the gears like there was no tomorrow and disappearing out of sight.

Kim stood there gawping after the mad motorcyclist. She hadn't done a thing, but her adrenaline was pumping like she'd just gone ten rounds with Shego at her most annoyed. She HAD to have one!

Kim sprinted the rest of the way home and up her outside staircase, bursting through her door and front-flipped into her computer chair. She hit the 'ON' button for her computer repeatedly, yelling at it to hurry up.

Having waited for what seemed like an eternity, Kim frantically typed in her password and clicked the internet icon, navigating to Google in the blink of an eye and typing in the words she'd got off the side of the bike at a speed Wade would have been proud of. After a few second's searching she found exactly what she was looking for and spent the next 5 minutes with her eyes glued to the monitor, drinking in every detail of the bike on the screen.

It was an '02 model Gas Gas 250 Supermoto and was quite possibly the sexiest creation she had ever seen! She had to have one! She would do ANYTHING to have one! She called up Wade on the Kimmunicator. "Wade, I need you to do a global search for anyone who owns a 2002 model Gas Gas 250 Supermoto, and then find the closest person to me that's selling." Kim said hurriedly.

"Whoa, whoa! What's the rush?" Wade asked, with a hint of annoyance.

"Wade, I MUST HAVE that bike!" Kim yelled frantically at him. The excess adrenaline buzzing round her system was causing her to act like a toddler who'd had way too much sherbet before bed.

"Jesus! Calm down, Kim! You're acting like a complete spaz!" Wade shouted back, thankful he was in his room and not in front of her. "For god's sake woman, control yourself!"

Kim stopped for a second and slowly counted to ten, taking deep breaths. The adrenaline in her system dispersed slightly and she was able to resume normal-ish behaviour. "Sorry Wade." She said finally. "I dunno what got into me. I saw one of those bikes go past me on the street and I just got majorly hyped. Sorry." She apologised again, sheepishly.

"I should hope so too! Jeez, talk about jumping out of my skin!" The young genius exclaimed, waving a hand in the air.

"Eheh. Yeah. Erm… I'll try not to do it again." Kim offered.

"Good." Wade answered with a frown. "So what's so special about this bike then?" He inquired.

"My god Wade, have you SEEN it?! It's GORGEOUS!! If it were a man, I'd marry him in a heartbeat!" Kim gushed. And just at that moment, the voice of reason started up again. _'Seemed to have more of a lithe feminine shape to me, and a rather fiery attitude from that display on the road, much like someone else we know.' _

Kim growled inwardly at the voice. 'Can you just shut up and fuck off?!!' She thought at it. _'Nope.'_ The voice replied with a tone so smug Kim could taste it.

Wade, in the meantime, had pulled up a picture of the bike she was on about. "I gotta admit Kim, it is pretty. I wouldn't go as far as gorgeous though." He laughed.

Kim looked mortified. "You have no taste, man!" She exclaimed in shock. Wade burst into fits of laughter at the look on Kim's face. He got a screenshot of it before she changed expressions and saved it to taunt her with later.

"What's so funny?" She demanded.

It took Wade a few minutes to stop laughing. "Your face, Kim! It was classic! I got a screenshot. You wanna see it?" He asked, still giggling and wiping tears from his eyes.

"Er, no. I'd rather you looked for the bikes." She answered shortly.

"Okay, gimme a few minutes. I'll letcha know when I'm done." He promised. "Thanks Wade. You rock!" beamed Kim. She cut the connection, finally stripped out of her stinking gig clothes and ran the shower, relishing the feeling of being properly clean. She shaved again, doing a better job than the first time now she had the time to herself to do it properly.

After drying off and picking out some clean clothes, still with the Skid Row theme, she wandered downstairs and lounged about until dinner. Afterwards, she went out to the garage and did some more work on her car waiting for Wade to call back with news on a bike for sale.

Wade never did get back in touch with her, choosing to get in touch with her parents instead to suggest a bike he'd managed to locate in the south of England somewhere to buy her as an 18th birthday present, as it was fast approaching and she'd made no mention of anything she wanted.

There had been others that had been closer, but none had been kept in such immaculate condition as this one. It wasn't standard, having had an aftermarket rear light fitted and various aluminium brackets custom-made to replace the standard offerings, the exhaust had been modified to give more power and ease of maintenance, the new spout being made of stainless steel and bolted on, rather than riveted on like the original plastic one had been.

It had aftermarket wheels that were a better quality than the originals with stainless steel spokes and nipples with the top brand Talon hubs and Excel rims. All the nuts and bolts had been replaced with stainless or titanium counterparts, it had brush guards fitted, the engine had been ported for more top-end power and had only recently been run-in.

Her parents got Wade to get in contact with the seller and find out why he was selling it, how much he wanted, and if he could keep hold of it for a few weeks until they sent someone to pick it up.

It turned out the seller didn't want to sell it at all, but a crippling accident had put him out of work and he was no longer able to ride it. He'd agreed to keep it as long as it was a cash-on-collection deal, but was after, in the Possible's opinion, too much money. Wade had to work on them long and hard to convince them it was worth it and that Kim would be absolutely over the moon with it. They eventually caved and agreed to Wade telling the seller they'd buy it, although they decided they'd make Kim pay them back half.

--------------------------

For Kim, the few weeks before her birthday went by in a flash. She spent the days in school, in cheerleader practice or saving the world. In the evenings, she was found in the garage or her room working on her car, or parts of it. Kim had set up a workbench along most of one wall of her room, setting her computer on it among other things, including umpteen greasy tools and engine parts.

She'd decided to build the engine in her room as it was cleaner and she could sit down to do it, so mistakes were fewer as she could take her time and browse Mazda tuning forums for tips and tricks to get the best results. She figured that Wade hadn't been able to find a bike for sale yet as he'd never called back after she'd asked him to.

On the day of her birthday, she woke up at the normal time, half expecting something amazing to have happened as she was finally 18. Sadly, nothing. She got dressed in something a little more noticeable as it was her birthday. She went for a red Metallica boob tube, forgetting her parents still didn't know about her tattoo, a pair of Swiss pattern camouflage cut-off shorts that hugged her figure quite nicely and her favourite pair of New Rock ankle boots.

Walking downstairs, she was greeted by her mother. "Happy 18th dear!" She beamed, throwing her arms round her daughter and pulling her into a tight hug.

Kim returned it, smiling. "Thanks, mum."

"I've made your favourite breakf-Oh!" Mrs. P went quiet having just noticed the tattoo on Kim's shoulder.

"What's wrong, mum?" She asked, following her gaze. "Oh. That." Kim shifted uncomfortably, trying to gauge her mother's reaction.

"And how long have you had that, young lady?" She asked in a stern voice.

More uncomfortable shuffling. "Erm… Nearly a… year." Kim replied, cringing.

"Well congratulations on being able to hide it from us for so long, but I'm not exactly pleased that you did. Saying that, I can understand your reasoning. I doubt your father would be impressed. I suggest you go and put on something that's going to cover it, like that leather jacket. Oh, and put on some sensible trousers. It's forecast to turn cold later." Mrs. P suggested.

Kim looked at her mother strangely. "But it's bright and sunny outside."

"Trust me on this one Kimmie. You're going to need some sensible trousers. Those ones you wear on missions should do nicely."

There was something in her mother's voice that made her suspicious, but she did as she was told anyway, returning wearing her leather jacket and cargo trousers.

Following her mum downstairs, she walked into the kitchen and was pulled into a bear hug by her father. "Happy birthday Kimmie-cub! How does it feel to finally be 18?" He probed.

"Thanks, and, er, no different from being 17. Big whoop, I can vote now, but I still can't legally drink for another 3 years-" "Not that it seems to have stopped you, mind." Her father interjected with a smirk, "-so… er… yeah. Much the same as usual." She finished.

She sat down at the table and tucked into her breakfast, noting the Tweebs weren't present. "Where are Jim and Tim this morning?" She inquired. Something was decidedly strange, but she couldn't put her finger on it.

"They went over to their friend's house for the night. They won't be back until after school." Mr. P answered.

She finished breakfast and got through the task of opening cards without too much hassle, one of them being from Betty Director, wishing her a good day and hoping she enjoyed her new toy, but was wondering why she hadn't been given any presents yet. Usually they came right after cards, and the card from the GJ head honcho just made her all the more suspicious.

"Kimmie, we've got a bit of a surprise for you, but you've got to wear this." Mrs. P said, holding up a blindfold. "Ok, weird much…" Kim said in a worried voice, but put it on all the same.

Her parents led her out to the drive in a roundabout fashion to add to the suspense and throw Kim off a bit. They stopped her and stood to one side.

"Ok Kim, you can take off the blindfold now." Her mother said. Both her parents were grinning like Cheshire cats, although they were slightly nervous because, although Wade had assured them Kim would love it, they still weren't totally sure.

Kim quickly pulled off the blindfold and squinted as her eyes adjusted to the light of something very shiny in front of her. As she focused, her mouth dropped open and she stood there for a moment before exploding: "OH! MY! GOD!!! OH MY FUCKING GOD!!!! OMIGODOMIGODOMIGOD!!!! I LOVE IT! I FUCKING LOVE IT! I LOVE YOU! YOU ARE THE BEST PARENTS IN THE WHOLE FUCKING WORLD!!!" She screamed, jumping around like a kangaroo before running over to them and hugging and kissing them both like she was on speed. "You guys are absolutely fucking AMAZING! This is the best birthday present ever!" She squealed. Her parents couldn't do anything but smile more. They really hadn't expected such a positive reaction and were slightly taken aback at Kim's instant hyperactivity.

She ran over to the bike and hugged that as well. Jim and Tim, as their contribution, had spent the past few nights going over the bike with a fine tooth comb cleaning and polishing it so it positively glowed.

Kim swung her leg over her new toy and picked it off the sidestand which flicked up like some kind of weapon. She was amazed at how light the bike felt. It was like she was sitting on a large BMX. She grinned like a madwoman and looked up at her parents. "Seriously, you guys rock!"

Setting the bike back on the sidestand, she carefully got off and stood back, admiring the shiny Gas Gas. She took in every detail, noting how the previous owner's mods had been well thought-out and very well made. There were even brackets on the back to attach something. She would ask her parents about it later. Right now, all she wanted to do was go for a blast!

"Mum, dad, can I take it for a ride? Can I can I can I pleeeeeeeease?" She begged.

"Now, now Kimmie-cub, you're not going anywhere on it until you're wearing the appropriate safety equipment, i.e. helmet and gloves. Now, the previous owner was kind enough to throw in his old riding equipment and was good enough to print off and laminate some brief instructions that he suggests you follow before every ride." Mr. P stated.

"Great. Instructions." Kim moaned.

"Kimmie, the owner said that if you didn't follow them, you could well end up blowing the engine up. And I doubt you want to do that the first day you've got it. And if you don't hurry up, you're going to be late to school and won't be able to show it off." Mrs. P warned.

"I suppose you're right." Kim sighed.

She followed her parents inside the house and into the front room where, on the coffee table, sat a pair of slightly grubby racing gauntlets and a bug-splattered Simpson Outlaw helmet, complete with the obligatory black visor. Next to it was a laminated sheet of paper with the keys sitting on it, a few bottles of Castrol XR77 racing 2-stroke oil and a red-tinged measuring cylinder.

She picked up the laminated sheet and began to read:

_To the New Owner, firstly let me go over a few quirks particular to this bike: _

_The sidestand, as you may have noticed, is vicious and has left me hobbling for days on several occasions after kicking me in the shin. Be careful. _

_Also, the clutch, if left for too long without being run, sticks on and you have to strip it down and pull the plates apart. Thankfully, it's a relatively simple operation, but you have to lay the bike on it's side on the ground so the oil doesn't pour all over the floor. _

_Finally, it DOES NOT idle. At all. It will idle on choke for a minute or so, and then die, so you have to hold it on the throttle while at junctions._

_Also, once warm, it is a complete animal to ride and definitely not for the faint-hearted. _

_I recommend running it on nothing less than 97-octane fuel unless you want to have running problems._

_This is a premix-only bike. You mix the oil with the fuel in the tank. I ran it at a 40:1 fuel:oil ratio, which is 25ml of oil to every 1l of fuel. _

_Work it out like so: 1000 (ml of fuel) ÷ 40 (mix ratio) (equals) 25 (how much oil in ml you need)_

_PRE-RIDE INSTRUCTIONS:_

_Ensure the fuel tap [located at the rear of the cylinder is in the 'ON' position [straight down_

_Pull the choke lever up until it clicks_

_Fold out the kick-start_

_Mount the bike_

_Insert key and turn it forward one click_

_Pull the clutch in_

_Open the throttle approx. ¼ way_

_Kick it. Hard._

_Once started, release clutch, shut throttle and wait for engine to 'bog'._

_Hold engine at 3000rpm on the throttle_

_Push choke down_

_You are now ready to ride off._

_The engine will not want to rev until it is fully warm, usually within a mile of riding on cool days._

_However, once she's up to temperature, take it easy. She will surprise you._

Kim took a few moments to digest the information. Nothing less than 97 octane? She could see this was going to be expensive to fill up.

She tried the helmet on for size. It was a little snug, but comfortable enough. She caught a look at herself in the mirror and grinned. She definitely liked this helmet! It made her look like The Stig from Top Gear.

Trying on the gloves next, she found them to be a bit too big, but after finding a thin pair of woolly gloves to put on first, they were fine.

Pulling on her bag, she says goodbye to her parents and gives them a clumsy hug wearing the helmet.

Walking out of the house, Kim starts getting major nerves about riding the beast. Her adrenaline was already pumping and she's not even within front-flipping distance of the shiny machine.

She carried out the pre-ride rituals, double-checking everything just to be sure. Finally swinging her leg over the seat, she pulls the clutch in, turns the key, opens the throttle and kicks as hard as she can.

BRRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIING DING-DING-DING-DING-DING

The bike fired first kick, scaring Kim with the sudden burst of noise. She let go of the controls out of shock and the bike settled into it's erratic tickover on choke.

Kim's parents stood on the porch, smiling. Mrs. P, armed with a camera, took a several shots of their daughter. "Kimmie, Over here!" She called. Kim turned and waved at them and Mrs. P took a few more photos before the haze of smoke got too thick.

Kim sat there, engulfed in the blue smoke and inhaled deeply. She decided she could quite happily breathe that smoke for the rest of her life. The smell was intoxicating and just sparked her adrenal gland into overdrive.

Reaching down, she shut the choke off and blipped the throttle, holding it at 3k as instructed. Sitting up again, she pulled the clutch in and selected first gear, letting the clutch out slowly, feeling for the bite point and giving it more revs as she found it, pulling off a little unsteadily as she got used to the bike.

The trip to school was thankfully uneventful. She opened it up once or twice on some empty straights, but quickly shut the throttle as the bike hit the powerband and the front end went light, sending her down the road at what seemed like warp speed. The grin on her face seemed to be fixed in place though. She loved it! All her senses were tingling from the adrenaline overload as she pulled into the school car park, drawing a bit of a crowd as she searched for a parking space.

She spotted Bonnie looking over at her, a scowl on her face as her gaggle of friends were all staring intently at her. She decided to park in the empty spot right next to Bonnie's car, revving it a few times, engulfing Bonnie in a cloud of blue smoke before killing the engine and setting it on the sidestand.

She dismounted and pulled off her helmet with a huge grin fixed on her face, trying to make her hands stop trembling. The whole car park gawped at her and Bonnie turned positively green with jealousy at Kim hogging all the attention.

"Hey Bonnie! Like my birthday present?" Kim drawled, smirking. "Oh, and a word of warning, if you even THINK about doing anything to my baby, you won't have a car left by the time I'm done." She said airily, but with a look in her eyes that said 'That ain't no idle threat, bitch.'

"Whatever, Possible." Bonnie spat, before spinning round and storming off, her crowd of followers trailing after her, taking many backward glances at Kim and her bike.

She locked it up with the chain her parents had snuck in her schoolbag and headed off to meet Ron.

"Hey KP! Happy birthday! I heard about your new bike. The whole school's been practically flippin' out over it!" Babbled the blonde.

"Man, it is so fuckin' awesome! I've never had such a huge adrenaline buzz! Look at my hands. I still can't hold them steady!" She said in awe, holding up a still shaking hand.

Monique came running up to them. "Girl, what an entrance! I've never seen Bonnie so green in my LIFE! That ride is just BEYOND awesome! And it's so shiny! Girl, you got some serious bling sittin' in that carpark! Oh, and happy b-day, too. Pop by Club B after school. I got ya a little somethin' saved." She said with a grin.

"Thanks, Monique. Nice one." Kim beamed.

Ron suddenly remembered. "Oh, I got your present stashed in my locker. Gimme a minute while I grab it." He hurried off to his locker and fished about for a few minutes before returning with a little jar of silver liquid. "Here ya go KP." He grinned.

"Uh, thanks, Ron. Um… What is it?" Asked Kim.

"Oh right! Yeah, it's a nanobot tracking solution. Paint some on your bike and they'll fix themselves to every part of it. Means you can track it's location via satellite anywhere on the planet through the Kimmunicator." He reeled off. "Came up with the idea all by myself." He puffed his chest out, looking smug.

"Aw, thanks, Ron! This is amazing!" She exclaimed, giving him a quick one-armed hug, still holding her helmet in the other.

"It was nothin'." He said offhandedly.

The bell went and they dispersed for class. Kim was at a bit of a loss as to what to do with her helmet. She had no room in her locker and she wasn't about to leave it lurking about. "Sod it. I'll take it with me." She decided.

The day dragged on forever in Kim's opinion, and the breaks were over way too quick. Monique and Ron decided she was acting paranoid, because every opportunity she got, she was out in the carpark checking on her bike.

"Fair play to her though." One of their fellow classmates interjected, overhearing their conversation. "I'd be scared of leaving something that bangin' outta my sight."

After school, she sprinted out to the carpark, putting her helmet on as she went. She'd been looking forward to the ride home all day and the teachers had commented on her lack of focus in several lessons.

There were only a few other people that had made it out of school faster than her. She unlocked it, stowing the chain in her bag and fired it up, waiting for a few minutes for the engine to warm up, by which time she'd drawn yet another crowd and Bonnie was once again giving her an evil look.

"Hurry up and get that mobile smokescreen outta here! I don't wanna smell like a garage if it's all the same to you!" She yelled at Kim over the noise of the engine. Kim snapped the throttle open for a few seconds making the engine scream and billow out a thick plume of blue smoke completely engulfing Bonnie and her car before wheeling it backwards out of the bay and riding off, giving Bonnie the finger as she passed.

Kim took the long way home, taking as many long straights as possible so she could really open the bike up, paying absolutely no attention to speed limits or other road users, her adrenaline pushing her to overtake anything and everything in her path and go faster, her red hair billowing out behind her like a mane of fire.

Before she knew it, she was at the wrong end of her road and had to turn round and go back, having gone buzzing past her house at 80mph.

Pulling up in her drive, Kim heard her Kimmunicator go off. She pulled off a glove and took it out of her pocket. "Go, Wade." She said, forgetting she was still wearing her helmet.

"Hey Kim, it's Monique. I hope you haven't forgotten to stop by Club B. I'm startin' to think I should keep yo' present for myself!" She joked.

"Oh right! Sorry Monique, I completely forgot! I was looking forward to the ride home that much it slipped my mind!" Kim apologised.

"You might wanna take off that helmet when you come in though. It's like talkin' to a Stormtrooper or somethin'!" Monique smirked.

Kim laughed. "Yeah, no worries. See you in 5." She clicked off and slid the Kimmunicator back into her pocket, starting the bike again and heading for the Mall.

Kim pulled into the carpark and shut the bike off. She'd got there in about 2 minutes and was once again buzzing like she'd just snorted a foot-long line of speed.

Walking through the double doors, she took off her helmet and jogged up the escalators and into Club Banana. "Hey, Monique." She greeted her best female friend.

"Hey Kim. You stink! All I can smell is that smoke on you!" Monique reported with a smile.

Kim grinned. "Yeah, great isn't it? I love the smell, it's addictive!"

Monique rolled her eyes. "What am I gonna do witchoo, girl? I swear you got gas runnin' through your veins instead of blood!" Kim grinned wider at that. "Anyway, hold on a sec an' I'll getcha your present." Monique told her, before running through the 'Staff Only' door.

Kim wondered for a few moments what Monique had got her before she came back through the door holding a large 'CyberDog (a) Club Banana UK' bag. It obviously had a box of some sort in it from the shape.

"Here ya go, Kim. These aren't officially released over here until next season, but I pulled some major strings and managed to get this one shipped in from the UK store especially. I've modified it myself too, so this is a true one-off." Monique beamed with pride at what she'd managed.

"Aw, thanks, Monique! I got a feeling I'm gonna owe you bigtime for this one." She commented, hugging her friend.

"Hey, no big, girlfriend. I know you got my back when I need it. Least I could do. I'd get you to open it here, but I don't wanna let anyone know I can get hold of this stuff." Monique smiled

Kim thanked her friend and said goodbye, itching to get home and check out what was in the box. Knowing Monique, she knew it was gonna be absolutely awesome.

She managed to squeeze the box into her bag and headed home. Just as she'd pulled up in her drive for the second time, her Kimmunicator went off again.

"Jeez, talk about timing!" Kim complained to no-one, pulling the device out of her pocket again.

"Go, Wade." She sighed.

"Hey Stig, you got a hit on your site." Wade sniggered.

"Oh! Sorry, Wade. Just got back." She apologised, flicking up the visor.

"Don't worry 'bout it. I screencapped that one too. I'm gonna stick it up on your website later." He grinned, sticking his tongue out.

"Har har. So who needs rescuing and where are they?" She asked, switching to mission mode, the adrenaline already present.

"A car shop the other side of town. BigCI Racing. Break-in. You need the location?" Wade asked.

"Nope. Been there before. Ordered my radiator from them. Tell Ron I'll meet him there." Kim said shortly, flicking her visor back down.

"No problem Kim. Catch you later." Wade closed the connection and Kim stuffed the Kimmunicator back in her pocket. She hopped off the bike quickly and stashed her bag just inside the front door. "Mum, dad? Just got a mission. Be back soon!" She called, pulling her glove back on.

Evening was starting to close in as she hopped back on her bike and fired it up for what seemed like the umpteenth time that day.

She screamed off in the direction of BigCI Racing, feeling more and more at home on her new favourite toy as she pushed herself to go faster, weaving in and out of traffic like she was in a giant moving slalom. She was buzzing! This was even more fun than fighting Shego!

She got to the shop in record time and set the bike on the sidestand, not bothering taking off her helmet or gloves and jumping through the already broken window and landing in her fighting crouch directly behind the thief.

"Shego! What the fuck are you doing here?" She exclaimed when she saw who it was.

Shego spun round. "And just who the fuck are you s'posed to be? The Stig's crime-fighting, speaking sister?" She mocked, getting into her own fighting crouch. She was slightly confused. The crouch looked like Kim's, but she couldn't be sure with the helmet. Since when did Kim ride?

"It's Kim, doofus! I woulda thought you'd be able to tell by the hair."

"Since when did you ride? Take off the helmet. It's making me nervous." Shego ordered, standing up, but not relaxing.

"Whatever." Kim said nonchalantly, standing up herself and undoing the straps on her helmet, pulling it off. "See? It's me. Happy now?" She demanded, setting her helmet down somewhere safe.

"Quite." Shego answered simply, lunging at Kim, fists ablaze. Kim was prepared for it and jumped at Shego, catching her in the face with a mean left-hook that Shego hadn't seen coming. "Ow! Jesus Christ, Princess, that really hurt!" She'd been knocked back into the counter and was rubbing her cheek.

"Heh. Teach you to jump at me while I'm still wearing my gloves." Kim smirked, getting into her fighting crouch before doing the international 'Bring it' signal.

"Oh, you are SO dead, Kimmie!" Shego threatened, launching herself at Kim again, but falling short and doing a forward roll, coming out of it with both feet aimed at Kim's chest.

The redhead managed to fall backwards in a Matrix-style move just in time to see Shego fly over her, grazing her chin with one of her feet. Shego, meanwhile, was momentarily stunned at Kim's sudden lightning reactions and went feet-first into a pyramid display of Gunk engine degreasant, sending red cans flying everywhere.

Kim used the opportunity to backflip and landed on top of Shego, straddling her. "So what're you here to steal this time, anyway? I'm sure Drakken can't use performance headers for whatever he's building, unless he's trying to resurrect the DoomVee."

"Actually, Princess, this was personal business. Drakken happens to have become quite a good mechanic since Motor Ed gave him a few lessons." She explained, throwing Kim off her into a stack of tyres. Something shiny caught her eye and she turned to look at it. "Oooh, nice bike Princess. Hope you don't mind me-" "Shayla, if you even LOOK at my 'bike funny, I'll fucking murder you in the most painful way imaginable!" Kim cut her off, pulling herself out of the pile of tyres.

Shego looked daggers at her. "Well, _Kimberly-Anne_, as we're on a first name basis all of a sudden, I was _actually_ gonna ask if I could sit on it. I do think it's a sweet ride. Had my eye on one, but decided I couldn't be arsed with the whole premix fuel thing."

Kim suddenly felt very silly. "Oh. Erm… Ok, yeah, help yourself. Watch the sidestand though. It's vicious." She warned.

"I'm sure I'll manage, Princess." Shego assured her, walking out through the broken window and swinging a leg over Kim's bike. "OUCH! Fucking stand!"

Kim nearly died laughing. She had to lean on something to stop from falling over after seeing Shego get hit right in the shin by the vicious stand. After a minute of hysterical laughing, to which Shego tried her best to ignore, Kim stumbled out of the shop wiping tears from her eyes. "I hate to say it, but I did warn you." Kim giggled.

"Yeah, yeah. Rub it in, Kimmie." Shego grunted, still rubbing her throbbing shin. She'd rested her foot on the footrest and had leant over to one side to save the hassle of getting off the bike.

Kim was still sniggering while Shego got properly settled on her bike. "Seat's nice and comfy." Shego remarked, sarcastically.

"Yeah, it's like sitting on a plank!" Kim agreed. "I gotta do something about it really. Hey, I didn't know you were into bikes!" Kim suddenly exclaimed, realising what was going on. Here she was talking bike with her arch nemesis! Like civilised human beings! It took a while to sink in.

"Well doy! Anything that gets my juices going as much as fighting you has to be a good thing in my books." The villain explained.

"…By juices, you do mean adrenaline, don't you?" Kim queried.

Shego laughed. "Of course that's what I meant. Why? Did you think I meant something else, Kimmie?" She looked Kim straight in the eye and smirked.

Kim started blushing furiously. "Er… Well… Um… Yeah. I mean, no! Oh, I dunno!" Kim huffed, throwing her hands in the air, blushing harder.

"Kim Possible, you're disgusting! Get your mind out the gutter!" Shego teased, genuinely smiling.

Kim changed the subject. "So what do you ride then? Knowing you, it's something by Kawasaki."

"How'd you guess?" Shego asked sarcastically. It wasn't like wasn't blatantly obvious she'd ride something from the Team Green stable. "I got a ZX-10R as it goes. Not riding it at the moment though. I got 'Drewbie' working on the motor for me. Got a few special bits to go in it." She winked, folding her arms and leaning forward on the handlebars.

Kim rolled her eyes, knowing full well what the wink meant. "You're terrible, you know that? Couldn't you actually PAY for something once in a while?"

Shego acted like she was deeply hurt. "Well excuse me, but if you hadn't noticed, I'm a thief by trade, and I paid for my car, which you undoubtedly know about as that's the only thing in the last ten years I've used my real name for." The villain shot.

She hit the mark because Kim shifted uncomfortably. "Eheh. Erm… Yeah, about that. I overheard some street racing gang talking about a break-in, and they mentioned your car. I got nosey." Kim blabbed.

"Oho! Little Kimmie turning into a bad girl eh? Illegal street racing? Whatever next? Not planning on turning bi are you?" Shego prodded, making Kim feel even more uncomfortable than usual, something she enjoyed doing immensely. Although she'd never admit it, she found Kim incredibly cute when she was like that.

Kim snapped out of her embarrassment, listening intently. "Shit!" She cursed in a low voice. "Shego, Ron's coming! Get off the bike, quick!" She urged, still talking in a low voice.

"And why would I wanna do that?" Shego inquired, not making the slightest sign of moving.

"Duh! Do _you _wanna explain this sitch to him? It's gonna look pretty odd us lurking outside a shop with a broken window rambling like best friends, don't ya think?" Kim asked, a slight edge to her voice as she checked the horizon frantically.

Shego sighed. "I spose you got a point there, Kimmie. So what do you plan on doing?" She asked, getting off the bike, being careful to stand well clear of the sidestand once she was off.

"Hit me!" Kim urged.

Shego blinked. "Excuse me?"

"Fucking hit me!" Kim yelled at her, getting impatient.

"Whatever you say, Princess." Shego shrugged, swinging for Kim's jaw.

The hit connected nicely and Kim flew backwards, correcting the fall and landing in a feral crouch, feet spread, one in front of the other, knees bent, leaning forward on one hand, the other stretched out to the side for balance. She looked up at Shego who was now in her fighting stance. "Bring it, Kimmie!" She taunted, smiling. This was brilliant! Being all pally-pally with the enemy talking about bikes and then getting to fight them as well! What had she done to deserve such good fortune?

Kim gladly obliged, launching herself at Shego before dropping to the floor and using Shego's failed attack against her, this time legs akimbo, going either side of her nemesis' waist and locking in place behind her.

Shego managed to stay upright, but wasn't prepared for Kim bending backwards and lifting her up and over, slamming her face-first into the pavement. 'Dammit! Since when did Kim fight dirty like that?' She wondered, righting herself as Kim jumped off her and got into an offensive crouch, waiting for the villainess to recover.

"You're going down for that, Kimmie!" Shego spat. "Idle threats won't get you very far, Shayla." Kim countered, going in for another attack.

Shego was ready this time and blocked it, managing to get a leg sweep in and knocking Kim to the floor. She jumped up and performed a perfect bodyslam on Kim, winding the teen hero.

"Lost for words, Kimmie?" she asked, her face inches from Kim's as she gasped for breath, made doubly difficult by the fact Shego was still laying on top of her.

"Get… Off. –Gasp- Can't… -Gasp- Breathe." Begged Kim.

"Shego! Get off her!" Ron yelled, appearing on the scene, having gotten a lift from his parents.

"Oh look! The buffoon's finally arrived! Took your time didn't you? Me and Kimmie have been having such fun, haven't we, Princess?"

Kim's eyes went wide and she mouthed the word 'No!' at her, shaking her head frantically.

"Yeah, whatever, Shego. How 'bout you come get some of the Ron Man this time?" He challenged, shaking himself out and getting into a very comical defensive crouch.

Shego had to do her best to keep from rolling around the floor laughing at the blonde sidekick. Kim groaned in despair, having finally caught her breath.

"Don't worry KP, I gotcha covered!" Ron assured her.

"I seriously doubt that." Shego commented before climbing off Kim, making sure to give Kim a good, long look at her leather-clad figure and smirking as Kim's cheeks turned bright red. 'Man she is SO sexy when she blushes! Wait, why am I thinking this? HEAD. IN. THE. GAME!'

She lunged at Ron, who somehow managed to dodge it, but that didn't save him from the vicious kick to the back that she dealt him, sending him flying head-first into a lamp post and knocking him out cold.

"Aw! I was looking forward to toying with him for a bit longer!" Shego complained, standing over the unconscious sidekick with a smirk.

Kim got to her feet and walked over, standing beside her arch nemesis. "Did you have to kick him so hard?" She asked, frowning at Shego, hands on her hips.

"Well yeah." The villain answered in a voice that said 'Doy!' "I wasn't planning on knocking him out though." She answered truthfully.

Kim shook her head, rolling her eyes and looking down. "Dumbarse." She mumbled to herself.

"Yeah, I heard that, Princess. And it's not my fault your bumbling sidekick can't counter my attacks." Shego pouted, folding her arms and shooting a sideways glance at Kim.

"Whatever. Now, I'd suggest you disappear before he comes round. I'd rather leave tonight on a high note than seeing you go off in a huff after handing you your arse again." Kim said with a grin.

"Ooh, someone's getting cocky. And I'll leave after I got what I came for." Answered Shego stubbornly.

Kim let out an exasperated sigh. "How about you just _buy_ whatever it is you're after?!" Kim shot. "It's not as if you can't afford it! After all, Drakken must be paying you a mint for you to still be putting up with him! What is it you wanted anyway?" Kim asks out of curiosity.

"Ok, you got me there, Kimmie. I was after some ported high-compression big valve heads for my Monaro. And just for you, I'll buy them. But don't expect me to cave so easily next time. Later, Princess!" Shego called, running off into the night, turning round and blowing Kim a kiss before disappearing from sight.

FOOTNOTE:

I realise I didn't get round to Ron getting some transport in this chapter, or finishing up the break-in, but poo happens and I want something to start next chapter with. It'll be in the next chapter, I promise. Also, Kim's bike is very real and not just something I made up on a whim. It lives in my shed and currently is wanting a new set of rings. BigCI Racing is actually a rip-off of BigCC Racing, based in England, which is actually a bike tuning specialist, dealing mainly in turbo conversions and big-bore kits for Japanese superbikes.

Pavement is a Sidewalk to you Yankees.


	4. The Storm Pt1

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry I lied in chapter 2's footnote about Kim getting back into racing last chapter. Got a bit carried away with the other ideas. I'm putting it in Pt.2 of this chapter instead.

Chapter 4: Light the Fires and Smoke the Tyres (The Storm) Pt.1

Kim stared in the direction Shego had disappeared for a long time before coming back to reality and forming something close to coherent thinking. Shego had blown her a kiss. Why the fuck did that make her feel so good? What did it mean? Should she be worried? Why was she reading so much into this? Ron was unconscious on the floor. Surely she should be worrying about that instead. So why was Shego's blown kiss still going round and round in her head?

Kim shook her head and pushed the thoughts out of her mind. She'd deal with them…later. She turned back to Ron and kneeled down. "Ron? Ron! You there, buddy?" Kim asked. She shook him gently, then less gently, then hard, then almost violently. No reaction. "Jeez, Shego really did a good job on you, didn't she?" Kim decided on more drastic measures. "RON! Wake up! Bueno Nacho is having a free food giveaway!" She slapped him as well, for good measure.

Ron sat up instantly, wide awake. "What? Free Nacos? Where? Gimme! Why does my head hurt?" He rambled, touching the lump on his forehead where he'd collided with the lamp post and wincing. Rufus jumped out of his pocket as well, shouting "Nacos!"

Kim grinned. "Shego kicked you into a lamp post and knocked you out. And sorry, no free Nacos. I was running out of ideas to get you to wake up."

"Aw man! That's harsh, Kim! Couldn't you have tried the bucket of water approach instead?" Ron asked, a frown on his face at the lack of free food. Rufus slumped down against Ron's leg, disappointed.

"Sorry, but I don't tend to carry a bucket round with me." Kim sniggered. Ron merely huffed at her. "How's your head? You gonna be ok?" She asked, worried he might have concussion.

"I feel ok for now, just got a major headache setting in. Any chance of your mum giving it the once-over when we get back though?" Ron inquired. He'd feel better about it if someone that dealt with heads on a daily basis gave him the ok.

"Sure, Ron. You'll have to stop by when you get back. I'm on the bike, remember." Kim explained.

"Oh yeah. Bummer. So what happened after Shego KO'd me?" Ron asked, curious.

Kim shifted uneasily. "Oh, you know. Same shit, different day. More fighting, bitching and Shego running off like a pussy." Kim lied, rather convincingly she thought.

"Nothing interesting then." Ron confirmed, looking a little bored.

"Nah. Listen, I'm gonna call the police so they can deal with the cleanup and all that other stuff so we can go home." Kim informed the blonde.

"Yeah, ok." Replies Ron, still a bit out of it.

The police turned up finally, about 10 minutes after Ron's parents, and took over. Kim had insisted he leave the minute his parents turned up and that she would be fine waiting by herself. He'd begrudgingly gone, but made her promise to call as soon as the police got there and she was on her way home.

"Hey Ron, they're finally here. I'll get going in a minute." She informed him. He was sitting in her living room still being fussed over by her mother.

"Ok Kim. See you soon. Ow!" Was his final word as he cut the connection. Kim snorted in amusement and picked up her helmet while stowing the Kimmunicator in her pocket.

Climbing back on her bike, she got a slight whiff of Shego and paused, almost reliving that blown kiss as she disappeared into the night. Seriously, what did it mean? _Was_ she reading too much into it? 'Grrrr! Get out of my head!' She tried getting the thoughts going round in her head to disappear or at least take a back seat until she got home with little success.

She forcibly pushed them to one side and started her bike again, panicking when the revs started to climb and the engine note sounded decidedly strange before the engine died completely. "Oh no! What have I done wrong?" She worried out loud, going over what she'd done in her head.

Kim couldn't think of anything, so climbed off the bike and looked it over. It was only then she noticed the fuel level was very low in the tank. "Great." She muttered.

Thinking for a bit, she wondered, 'So if there's still fuel in the tank, why did it die?' Bending down and examining the fuel line to check for leaks, she noticed the inline filter was empty. 'Aha! It must have a reserve!' It dawned on her.

Pushing the tap round past the 'ON' position, she saw fuel start to flow into the filter. Standing back up, the redhead climbed back on the bike and kicked it again. Nothing. 'Maybe I didn't kick it hard enough.' She pondered, before dismissing the idea. 'Must take a few kicks to drag the fuel up through the carb.' She decided. Yeah, that sounded about right. She kicked a few more times and eventually the bike burst back into life.

Kim set off home, deciding to ride sensibly to make the most of the miniscule amount of fuel left in the tank.

Once home, she stowed it in the garage and walked in through the front door. "Hey mum, dad." Kim greeted her parents before heading upstairs. She figured Ron would more than likely be in her room nosing through all the bits on her workbench.

"Kimmie, Ron left a few minutes ago. Can we have a word?" Mrs. P asked.

"Oh. Ok. Sure." Kim answered. She suddenly felt nervous. Why did her parents want to speak to her? Had she done something wrong? She would soon find out.

Wandering through to the kitchen where her parents were sat with some paperwork, she put her helmet and gloves on the table and sat down. "What's up?" Kim asked.

"We just want to go over a few things about your new bike." Mr. P answered. "Firstly, we only let you ride it today as it was your birthday and we could hardly show you the bike and then say you can't ride it. But as of now, until you pass your test and get some insurance, we'd like you to hand us the keys." He said in a voice that told her it was no use arguing over it.

Kim was visibly upset over the news, but she didn't put up a fight. Looking somewhat defeated, she pulled the keys out of her pocket and handed them over. She sighed and slumped forward onto the table. "I suppose it's for the best, really." Kim admitted in a tired voice.

Mrs. P cleared her throat. "Erm, we'd also like you to pay us back half of the cost of the bike." Kim winced. This didn't seem very fair, but she reasoned that it couldn't have been cheap. She didn't even know where in the world they'd got it from. She was about to find out.

"Now, we wouldn't normally ask you to do something like this, but it cost a LOT of money. Wade found it in England and was insistent that we get this one in particular. You'll have to ask him the reasons why. Had Betty Director not stepped in and offered to collect it in person, it would have cost a lot more and we wouldn't have been able to afford it. As it is, with the current exchange rate, we had to pay nearly $7,000 for it."

Kim's jaw dropped open. $7,000! She had no idea it had cost anywhere near that much! And Betty Director collected it for her? In person? Wow! But why? She'd figure that last one out later. But $7k! That was a lot of money for a second-hand bike, even if it was the most badical thing on the face of the earth!

And it was all the way from England?! The other side of the world practically! Wade must have thought it was pretty special to have singled this one out in particular. She was gonna have to ask him about it later…

"Um… Wow." Was all Kim could manage for a while. She sat there stunned for a moment, digesting the information. "Um… Yeah, ok, I'll just pop up to my room and raid my piggy bank. I think I got a spare $3.5 g's sitting around." Kim said sarcastically.

"There's no reason to be like that, Kimmie. We don't expect you to pay it all back at once, but a little bit whenever you can afford it would be nice." Mrs. P clarified. "As for the insurance and your test, we've done some research and found you some good quotes and a few local riding schools that seem to be pretty highly recommended."

They spent a while going through the quotes and schools before getting it all sorted. Mr. P would arrange to book some lessons for Kim in the morning and Kim herself would get the insurance paid up when she got in from school the next day. She had enough left over after buying the parts for her car to afford that without making herself broke again. Just as they were finishing up, the tweebs came bursting through the kitchen door…

---------------------------------

After Shego had disappeared round the corner and out of sight, she started going over the night's events on her way back to Drakken's lair. She had broken into a store to get some parts for her car and been intercepted by Kim, had a quick fight, then spent the next god knows how long talking bike like old friends before fighting again, then Shego had given in to Kim and blown her a kiss? Not to mention playing the seductress while she was lying on top of the heroine.

'Seriously, what was that all about?' The thief asked herself. 'Yeah, fine, Kim's kinda cute and is possibly why I ended up with Shelly, but blowing her a kiss? I'm going soft! Nuts to that! Simple pleasantries and witty comments from now on. Oh, and the fighting. Can't forget that!' Even riding her bike, that was currently spread all over Drakken's workshop, didn't quite compare to going head-to-head with the quick-witted redhead, she decided.

Arriving at Dr. D's lair, she wandered in and headed for her quarters, thinking, maybe, she'd dig out her old X-Box and play MotoGP 2002 for a while as she couldn't go out on the real thing.

Shego got it all set up, lounging in her favourite easy chair and started playing, noting how bad she'd gotten since last time she'd played. She was using one of the quickest bikes on the game, the Yamaha YZR500, something she had been browsing vBay _and_ eBay for the last few months to get hold of a real one, and was getting annihilated by the computer opposition.

The sound of her in-game bike took her straight back to hers and Kim's little chat outside the shop again as she wondered what Kim's bike sounded like. She had heard it pull up, but wasn't paying enough attention to it to remember it's sound distinctly. Shego imagined it sounded pretty crisp.

"Gah! Back with the thinking of Kim again!" She yelled at the screen and crashed into a barrier. "Oh for fuck's sake!" Shego yelled at the screen again. She threw the controller at the screen and folded her arms in a huff, spinning the chair round and facing the wall.

After a few minutes of sitting there in an annoyed silence, she broke her mental reverie. 'Well this is getting me nowhere. All I can think about is Kim on her bike… Not helpful. Think I'll have a quick flick on the net, see if there's and YZR's on vBay…'

Getting up from her chair, she walked over to her computer, flicking the radio on as she went. After a second or so, the announcer's voice filled her quarters: "…nd our next track is a special request tonight. Foreigner with Woman in Black!"

The song started as Shego hit the 'ON' button for her computer and sat down. She tuned out the computer's whirring and listened to the tune. She liked the sound of it so far, having always been into more mellow rock, then the singer started and Shego found herself being transported straight back to the Moodulator incident when she had been chasing Drakken across Middleton while Kim had been chasing Ron in that little black dress. 'Damn, she looked _fine_ in that outfit…' Shego thought to herself, closing her eyes and relishing in the images of the cheerleader in the dress as the lyrics washed over her:

I knew the moment  
I walked through that door  
I felt so close to a burning sensation  
It got so warm  
As I moved across the floor  
My body aching, with anticipation

I saw a dark silhouette at the table  
I tried to talk, but I was unable  
She drew me in right under her spell  
I was hypnotized by the sudden temptation

Of that woman in black, she's a mystery  
She's everything a woman should be  
Woman in black, she's got a hold on me  
She's in control, she won't set me free

Shego's eyes snapped open as the chorus finished and the second verse started, the lyrics driving home a point she just did not want to acknowledge even existed. The words rang waaaay too true for comfort and it unnerved her to the point she got up and bolted for the radio to shut it off. She didn't need this shit at the moment, not like this.

She is a woman  
She's not a girl anymore  
The kind that stirs up a young man's imagination  
She's dressed to kill  
And I'm so ready to fall  
Into her world full of strange fascination

I see that dark silhouette, at the table  
I can't resist, my body's not able  
She draws me in, but she teaches me we-

Shego hit the radio off. 'No more of that shit tonight, thanks. I wonder how 'Drewbie' is getting on with my bike…' she thought to herself, needing something, ANYTHING to stop her mind replaying the words from the song over and over in her head with the images of Kim in the black dress.

Growling to herself in annoyance, she walks out of her quarters and starts heading for the workshop. The song still going round in her head caused a scowl to work it's way onto her face and the few of Drakken's henchmen she did meet got out of her way in a hurry. She was bad enough when she wasn't narked, they thought, god knows what she'd be like being as angry as the scowl suggested.

Getting down to the workshop, she slid through the door almost soundlessly and wandered over to where Drakken was tinkering, jumping up onto a workbench, crossing her legs and leaning back on her hands, unknowingly giving the 'good' doctor an eyeful of her legs and physique in general.

"So how's it coming Dr. D? Looking pretty good so far." Shego commented, genuinely impressed with his work so far, not that she could really tell what he'd been doing. All she knew is last time she checked, the engine had been in bits on the bench, and now it was quite whole and back in the bike.

"Nrrrrg! I'd be doing better if you weren't distracting me!" He complained, eyes focusing on Shego's legs rather than what he's doing. He managed to stab his finger with a screwdriver after slipping while doing up a jubilee clip on the carburettors. "Ouch! Now look what you made me do!" He yelled, hopping from foot to foot and shaking his hand about madly, spraying drips of blood all over Shego's bike, himself and the floor.

"Hey, watch where you bleed, will ya? That's my bike you're dripping on!"

"Well I wouldn't be bleeding if you hadn't distracted me!" The mad scientist shot at her.

"No, you wouldn't be bleeding if you'd had your eyes on your work instead of my legs!" Shego shot back. "Yeah, I saw you looking, blue boy." She said with an accusatory glare.

Drakken had no answer to that, so merely grunted at her before walking off to wash his injured hand and get a plaster.

Shego decided to go for a drive to try and clear her head. Walking over to her Monaro, she got yet another bloody flashback to earlier: "Eheh. Erm… Yeah, about that. I overheard some street racing gang talking about a break-in, and they mentioned your car. I got nosey." The thief heard Kim's voice repeat in her head and growled.

Shego let her suspicions over that sentence run away with her: 'How much does Kim know? Does she know it was me that broke in? Does she know why? Oh god! Has she spoken to Shelly?! Oh shit! Oh shit shit shit shit!!'

She quickly unlocked her door and jumped in, firing up the car and revved it, hitting the button Drakken had installed on her dashboard for the automatic garage door and roared out of the lair, leaving huge, black strips of rubber on the ground as she went. She had to find out how much Kim knew and she wasn't about to go back to Shelly to get the answers, which left only one other option: Grilling Kim in person.

"Shego! Next time, you're gonna be the one hiding the tyre tracks when you leave in a hurry!" Drakken yelled after the rapidly disappearing car in vain. "Blasted woman! Has absolutely no concept of leaving in a manner that doesn't arouse suspicion!" He whinged to himself, grabbing a broom to sweep up the loose gravel Shego had flung across the workshop floor when she'd left.

Shego, meanwhile, was tearing across Middleton on her way to Kim's house, hoping, no, praying she was in. She _had_ to know how much she knew and what she'd told them, and she needed to know yesterday!

Getting caught at a red light, she began to fidget and hammer the steering wheel, screaming at the lights to hurry up and revving the engine.

When the lights finally changed, she buried the throttle and was gone in the blink of an eye, once again leaving a good portion of her tyres on the asphalt, and a few minutes later had pulled up outside the Possible residence with a squeal of abused tyres.

Jumping out of the car, she forced herself into a calm stroll as she approached their front door and rang the bell, taking a few deep breaths so she didn't appear in any way flustered. That just wouldn't do.

After a short wait, the door was answered by the tweebs of all people. Shego raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Yeah?"

"What can we-"

"Do for-"

"You? Hey, aren't you that-"

"lady that's wanted in-"

"Like, a billion different-"

"Countries?" They asked, not caring that they were being rude.

Shego merely folded her arms and frowned. In an all-too-creepy way, they reminded her of her own twin brothers. "First, I wanna see Kim. Second, yes. Although not for murder yet, but that could all change if you don't stop gawking like a pair of idiots and get a move on!" She snapped at them, lighting both her arms to the shoulder for a second, which made the twins jump and scurry off to the kitchen.

They burst through the kitchen door and started babbling about a criminal who could set herself on fire, grabbed Kim's arms and literally dragged her to the front door before disappearing upstairs in a flash.

Kim, for the most part was completely stunned at having been dragged across the floor, thankful she was still wearing her leather jacket or she was sure she'd be nursing some serious carpet burns by now. She could feel the jacket was already slightly warmer for it.

Picking herself up, she straightened herself out before turning to who was at the door. She did a double-take before letting her jaw hang open in an imitation of the tweebs. Shego, finding it all rather amusing seeing Kim hauled across her house like a sack of potatoes, stood there smirking something fierce. "You can shut your mouth now, Princess. There's no flies to catch this time of night."

Kim shut her mouth and let her mind form a coherent thought before saying anything. "Wh-what are you doing here?" She asked, still stunned.

"We need to talk, Kimmie." Shego said dangerously, her smirk turning to a deep scowl.

"Can it wait?" Kim tried, sensing that she wasn't going to like what Shego wanted to talk about.

"No, Princess, it can't." Shego stated, strolling straight past Kim into the house.

"Come in, Shayla. Please, make yourself at home." Kim drawled in an overly sarcastic tone, shutting the front door.

"Yeah, whatever. Is there somewhere private we can chat?"

Kim sighed. "Follow me." She headed upstairs to her room. Shego followed without a word.

Once they were in Kim's room, Kim kicked the trapdoor to the stairs shut and flipped the lock across. "So what is it you wanna talk about?" Kim inquired, slipping out of her jacket and motioning for Shego to take a seat before flopping down on her bed and propping herself up against the headboard.

Shego was too busy looking around Kim's room to notice her offering a seat, but at the question, she turned to face the heroine and fixed her with a serious glare. "How much do you know about that break-in? How much do _they_ know about the break-in? Who did you speak to?" Shego asked each question without pausing.

Kim raised an eyebrow, but didn't look phased in the slightest at Shego's forcefulness. "First, pretty much everything. Second, probably slightly less than me. Third, the boss of the gang, some of his security guys and your ex." Kim smirked as she revealed the last part, especially at watching Shego visibly turn pale. "Now, let me ask _you_ something. Should I be flattered or worried that Shelly is almost a spitting image of me?"

Shego's skin went from almost white and turned to a deep blush, her whole face turning emerald. Kim grinned evilly, getting all the answers she needed from that reaction. "If you know what's best for you, _Kimberly_, you won't press me for an answer to that." Shego spat, folding her arms and spinning round to look out the window until she could get her face under control again.

Kim sat and waited for Shego to get herself back under control, but the grin on her face didn't show any signs of leaving in the near future. This was just too good to forget in a hurry!

Finally, Shego turned back to Kim. "So what do you know? How did you find out?" She asked fiercely.

Kim's expression changed to one of thought, still not even slightly bothered by the green woman's temper. She relayed the story of the day's events, taking great pleasure on using one of Shego's own mind tricks against her and relaying _exactly_ what Shelly had told them about her bedroom antics.

Shego looked at Kim in horror. "She told you THAT?!!" Kim couldn't contain herself any longer and sniggered uncontrollably, nodding her head before bursting out into fits of laughter as Shego started blushing. Again. "Yeah, very funny, Kimmie. Make the most of it!"

Shego huffed and plonked herself down in Kim's office chair. She mulled over what she'd found out. Things weren't looking especially bright at the moment. Kim had told Shelly that it was her who ruined her car, Shelly would no doubt have told the other racers who it was by now, and the gang knew her car by sight.

The thief sighed. She was gonna have to use her other car for a while until the heat was off or something… She didn't like using it unless it was a special occasion though. She'd spent a lot of money to get it just right and didn't want to ruin it.

An idea struck her. "Get up, Princess. We're going for a ride." She ordered.

Kim looked at her puzzled. "But I'm not allowed to ride my bike until I pass my test and my car's off the road." She motioned to the half-assembled engine on the workbench.

Shego rolled her eyes. "No, doy, in my car. And just what the fuck _is_ that engine out of? I've never seen anything like it in my life." She admitted, curiosity in her voice.

Kim was quite pleased to be able to show off some more. "It's actually bits of three RX7 engines. I'm making a replica of the 787B Le Mans car engine. Should be good for about 800bhp once I've got it set up on a rolling road." She positively beamed.

Shego merely raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, ok, I have absolutely no idea what either of those cars are, but I'm impressed with the power figures." She admitted. What she didn't admit was the fact she was even more impressed with the fact that Kim was building it herself.

The thief flipped the lock on the trapdoor and flipped it open to hear the sound of 2 pairs of feet running away quickly. Kim heard it too. "If you catch them, no serious burns, please." Kim sighed in a bored voice. She didn't have the inclination to chase them herself, so she may as well leave it up to Shego.

Shego practically jumped down the flight of stairs and tore after the tweebs, not making a sound. She caught them both by the scruff of their necks just before they managed to get to their room.

"Hey!"

"No fair!"

They complained, not knowing they were playing a very dangerous game.

"Oh, I think this is completely fair." Shego smirked, carrying them back up to Kim's room and dumping them unceremoniously on her floor. Kim flipped the trapdoor shut once again.

"So how much did you two little arseholes hear?" Kim threatened them, a look on her face that dared them to lie.

Shego lit both her arms again with a sadistic grin on her face. "Oh, this should be good fun if either one of you try and lie." Shego chuckled evilly, the flames on her arms glowing brighter.

The tweebs looked from Kim to Shego and back again, trying to see if either was going to give. Neither of them even faltered.

The tweebs wisely decided to tell the truth. They knew Kim would hurt them in ways it wouldn't show. She'd been studying pressure point torture purely for them. This other fire lady they didn't know, and didn't want to push.

"We heard-"

"About the break-in-"

"And Shelly, but-"

"No more, we swear!"

They said earnestly, fearing for their lives.

Shego switched off her flames, but not her grin. "You wanna do the honours or shall I?"

Kim considered it for a moment. "I think I'll start. You can finish. Would you mind keeping them still?" Kim asked in a sickly-sweet voice, an evil grin matching Shego's on her face.

"No, sis!"

"You can't, it's-"

"Not fair!"

They tried to make a run for it, but Shego, also somewhat versed in pressure point torture, something she'd studied for her CV/Résumé, grabbed them both by the necks in such a way, they found themselves unable to move or talk.

Kim stepped up to them. "I'm only gonna say this to you both once, so listen up. If I catch you two eavesdropping at my door one more time, I'll tie you both up and use every. Single. One. Of the torture methods I've learnt on you. You'll beg for death before I'm done. And as a taster, here's one of the mild ones."

She grabbed Jim's left arm, twisted it behind him in an unnatural fashion and dug her fingers in his upper arm between the muscles. His eyes went wide and his mouth opened wide in a silent scream. Tim could only watch as his brother looked to be going through hell. He knew he was next and he wasn't looking forward to it.

Kim repeated the move on Tim, as he knew she would, and he screwed up his face, gritting his teeth until she let him go.

Shego looked at Kim with awe. "Princess, remind me never to get on your bad side! That was evil! You sure you don't wanna join me and take over the world?" She asked, completely seriously.

"Tempting, but no. Much as saving the world is getting a drag, being that much of a bad girl doesn't push my buttons. Oh, it's your turn, by the way." She said in a manner that suggested torturing the tweebs wasn't out of the ordinary. She folded her arms and walked over to the window, staring out into the night and was silent.

"Oooh, goody!" Shego released the two and they fell to the floor, the look of abject terror in their eyes not lost on Shego. "Aww, aren't you two just the cutest little things when you're shivering in fear like cornered prey?" Shego drawled, an innocently sweet grin on her face.

"What Kimmie forgot to mention before your little taster, was that if you ever repeat anything you heard to ANYONE, you'll be dealing with me, and my methods are a little warmer."

Shego lit a finger on each hand and jabbed them both in the forehead and they instantly collapsed to the floor unconscious.

"What do you wanna do with these two now?" The thief asked.

"What? Oh, dump 'em in their room I spose. How long they out for?" Kim inquired.

"Few hours, max. They'll wake up with a major headache to remind them not to do it again as well." Shego smirked.

"Right. Let's get 'em to their room." Kim concluded, seeming slightly distant before grabbing one of the tweebs under her arm and flipping up the trapdoor.

Shego grabbed the other and followed her down the stairs to their room. They both deposited the twins in a heap on the floor.

"We'll go out via my room." Kim said in a somewhat lifeless voice and walked back upstairs. Shego followed, confused at Kim's sudden lack of emotion but decided not to question it. Yet.

They left Kim's room and got in Shego's car, pulling away at a somewhat sedate speed this time.

"What's wrong Kimmie? And don't say it's nothing cuz as soon as we got those two irritations, you shut off. So spill." Shego demanded.

Kim thought for a moment about lying, but realised she wasn't all that good at it, and Shego could spot it a mile off anyway. "It happens every time I try and teach them a lesson 'that way'." She began. "Every time I use one of those pressure point methods on them, it makes me feel dead inside. It's just no fun. There's no thrill in it. No resistance. That and every time I do it, it gets easier and that scares me. What if I go too far one day and kill one of them?"

Kim turned to look at Shego with genuine worry in her eyes. Shego looked back and had to do a double-take. 'WTF? What's she doing looking to ME for advice and guidance?' "Well I dunno what you want me to say on the matter Kimmie. Far as I'm concerned I don't even want to be here at all, but you poking your nose in and stirring up a load of shit has left me no choice."

She looked at Kim in a way that said 'I am SO not happy with you right now.'

"So what do you want me to do about it?" Kim demanded, some of her 'natural Kimness' coming back.

"We're gonna go and get my other car and you're gonna direct me to whatever street racing gang's lockup is that you were at, and you're gonna set up a race between me and Shelly. Deal is, if I lose, I pay for the repairs to her car and the lockup, if she loses, they let it drop and forget it happened." Shego answered.

"Why not just go to the Blood Tribe lockup? You know where that is." Kim reasoned.

"Yeah, but they know my car, and more than likely now know me. So I'd probably get shot. I wanna do this on neutral ground." Countered Shego.

"Oh right. I can't blame you for not going there when you put it like that." Answered Kim, and they fell back into silence.

Turning back up at Drakken's lair, Shego hit the button on the dashboard and the door began to open. "You might wanna duck, Princess. Drakken might still be working on my bike and I can't be arsed to deal with his whining this late at night."

Kim did as she was asked and sank low in the seat as Shego drove in. She manoeuvred the car over next to another that was under a heavy car cover. Kim's door was next to it so she could get out without being spotted as easily.

"Stay here for a minute. I'm gonna see if I can get rid of Drakken." Shego whispered to Kim before getting out and shutting the door.

Kim sat there for a few minutes, waiting. She was getting bored. She wondered what the time was and looked the dashboard over to see if she could spot a clock. She knew it was late, just not how late. Her parents would skin her alive if they knew what she was doing anyway.

After a few seconds of fruitless searching, Shego came back over and started pulling the cover off the other car. Kim ceased hunting for a clock and paid more attention to what was under the cover. She stuck her head up just a bit and looked over.

She made out the sharp lines of the front end that sloped down slightly to the windscreen. It was a deep gloss black in colour and there was black chrome trim here and there, so by that and the lines, she could tell it was a classic.

Sliding over in the seat, she peered over a bit further and got a look at the badge on the side of the wing behind the front wheel arch. In the dim light, she made out the letters 'GT 500' and saw the cobra before it and her eyes went wide. 'Shego's got a fucking Shelby GT500! Oh my fucking god! Never in my life did I think I'd SEE one in the flesh, let alone get a ride in one!' Kim thought to herself.

Shego caught sight of Kim's wide eyes peeping out the window and grinned. 'She knows.' She thought to herself as she stowed the cover in a metal trunk.

Walking round to Kim's door, she tapped on the window and Kim jumped back in fright. Shego smirked. "You can come out now, Princess. Blue boy's gone."

Kim practically jumped through the window to get out of the car. "Is it a real one?! Is it a real GT500?!" She babbled at Shego, never taking her eyes off the car. She kneeled down beside it and ran her hands lightly along the edge of the wing, looking down the side, taking in every angle of the beast from up close.

"Yup. She's the real deal. Got a certificate from Shelby himself authenticating it." Shego said proudly. "It's taken the last three years to get her looking this good, so I'm not happy about taking her out, but at the moment, she's the fastest thing I got and I do NOT want to lose this race, Kimmie." Shego warned.

Kim stood back and walked round the car. It was gorgeous! The deep metallic green stripes going perfectly with the black bodywork and the black chrome trim made it look that much more exotic. She could see it had been lowered and the wheels weren't standard, having been replaced by Torque Thrust D's that had been black chromed with the same deep green centres. Kim was in awe. The dish on these things was monstrous! The fronts had to be at least 7 inches wide!

"What kinda motor you got under the bonnet?" She asked excitedly.

Shego, being all too willing to show off her prized possession, and finding it almost cute how Kim was so easily excited, walked round to the front and popped it open, pushing it up all the way. She'd had Drakken install the gas struts that you find on boot doors to do away with the need for a bonnet prop. "Take a look for yourself." She replied simply.

Kim walked round and gasped. The engine bay was immaculate and it carried on the black chrome and deep green theme. In the bay sat a supercharged big-block V8. It had twin 4-barrel Holley carbs bolted to it with an oval pan-shaped filter sat on top of them. "What's the specs?" She whispered, having found she'd almost lost her voice.

"If I remember right, It's a 527ci block with full steel internals and forged hi-compression pistons. The heads have been ported and flowed and it's got oversized valves and a seriously high-lift cam. I got titanium pushrods and billet aluminium rockers in there as well as dual valve springs. Headers are ceramic-chrome coated titanium to keep the heat down and they're straight-through side-exits. Whole lot's been balanced and with the blower, she's putting out around 700 ponies at the wheels. I could easily up that to 900, but the reliability would start to suffer. She's got a lightened and balanced flywheel, triple-plate clutch and 6-speed 'box, not to mention a race-spec LSD in the back." Shego finished.

Kim just stood there doing her best impression of a fish out of water. When she eventually found her voice, al she could say was 'Wow!' Before returning to silence.

Shego grinned at how easy it was to impress the redhead with her toys and shut the bonnet. "Much as I'd LOVE to make you jealous and show you some of my other toys, I wanna get going, so get in, sit down, belt up and shut up." She said seriously.

Kim did as directed without a moment's hesitance and waited for Shego to climb in the driver's seat and fire it up, having to sit on her hands to stop fidgeting with them.

Shego slid gracefully into the seat and buckled up before puling the keys to her toy out of her ankle pouch. "Mind your ears, Kimmie. She's a bit loud."

Sliding the keys in the ignition, she turned them and the starter engaged, struggling slightly to turn over the massive motor. Giving the throttle a prod, the engine fired, literally.

Kim nearly jumped out of her skin! It was almost like someone had let off several flashbangs at the same time! Shego was right about this being loud…

They waited for a while for it to warm up and Shego couldn't help but grin as she got to drive her baby again. The vibrations it gave off at low RPM were just the right frequency to get her 'other' juices flowing. She looked over at Kim whose face was set in a stony expression but was getting distinctly redder as the seconds wore on. She had one hand on the door handle and the other on the edge of the seat, and she noticed all the knuckles on both hands were white.

"What's the matter, Kimmie? You look a bit hot under the collar." She teased, knowing full well what was making the redhead blush.

Kim, without turning her head or even blinking, answered in a forcedly calm and measured voice, "If you don't… adjust… the revs any time soon, I'm going to… I can't believe I'm saying this… I'm gonna come in your car!" Kim finished the sentence with a slight urgency. She really, really didn't want Shego seeing her like this, but at the moment could do absolutely nothing about it.

Shego laughed uncontrollably and decided, just to be really evil, to hold it at a more intense rev, looking at her expression go from stony to desperate and her entire head from the neck up go bright red.

Kim gasped through clenched teeth. "Please, Shego! I'm being serious! I doubt you'll be too happy when you have to get your upholstery cleaned and I really don't wanna walk around with a wet patch!" She begged, still holding the seat and handle in a deathgrip.

Shego noticed Kim's legs had started trembling, but stopped laughing immediately at the mention of her seats. "What do you mean?" She asked suspiciously, not getting what the redhead was hinting at.

Kim was losing the little control she had very quickly. "I'm a fucking squirter, okay?!" She yelled at the green-skinned woman, finally turning to look at her. "Now please, if you have any mercy, turn the car off!!"

Shego laughs, and turns it off, not out of mercy, but to be even more vindictive. "Don't you love it that I can just turn you on and off like that, Kimmie?" She said with a smirk.

Kim let out a long breath and relaxed, letting go of the handle and the seat and sinking a bit further into the chair. "Thank you. I thought for a minute you weren't gonna turn it off just to be nasty." The redhead admitted.

Shego smirked. "Who says I did it to be nice?" She challenged, firing up the engine and holding it at the most intensely vibe-inducing rev she knew and watched Kim go rigid in her seat and her eyes go wide before rolling up into her head.

"Shego, you're a compl-uh-ete -nnnng- BITCH!" Kim screamed at her, using every ounce of self-control to keep her libido in check and failing dismally.

Shego watched with glee as Kim started writhing on the chair, fists clenching and unclenching, her breathing becoming quick and sweat running down her forehead. The thief was having enough trouble herself to keep from doing the same as Kim, but was doing a better job of hiding it. That and she'd raised herself off her seat a little to reduce the sensations.

Kim was teetering on the brink of one of the most intense orgasms of her life, but she wouldn't give in. Not in front of Shego, not in her car, and NOT in Drakken's lair!

…Ok, maybe she would.

Kim let out a scream that reverberated round the workshop and made Shego stick her fingers in her ears. The redhead was spasming wildly in the seat, gasping and moaning as she soaked the seat of her trousers and Shego's leather upholstery. She was gripping the sides of the seat so hard her nails hurt and she was getting cramp in her hands. It took a whole 5 minutes to calm down and after she had finished, she collapsed on the chair, exhausted.

She had enough energy left to look up at Shego with the most piercing death glare anyone had ever seen her wearing and said quietly, "One day, I'll get you back for that."

Shego sat there quite stunned for a second. She'd never seen Kim pull a face like that. But then again, she'd never seen Kim come either. She leaned over a bit closer and looked down once Kim had resumed looking forward. Sure enough, there was a substantial wet patch in Kim's crotch. "So you really are a squirter, then." She sniggered.

The thief didn't see the hand until after it had made contact with her face and was on the way back down again. Then her face started stinging like a good'un. "OW! Jesus, what was that for?" She demanded.

"You know damn well what for, and believe me, that ain't even the beginnings of payback!" Kim spat. She felt victimised and used. While the orgasm had been mind-blowing, the circumstances leading up to it were far from what she would call decent and it left her feeling hollow.

"Aww, widdle Kimmie feeling a bit used?" Shego pouted sarcastically. She knew the look on Kim's face. She'd worn it herself on many occasions. She did feel a sudden rush of guilt for it though. At the time, she thought seeing Kim squirm was highly amusing and even pretty arousing, but now she felt the same hollow feeling she Knew Kim was. Being used like that for another's entertainment.

She was sickened at herself and knew that Kim's death glare and threat had in no way been put on. "Kim, I'm sorry. I really shouldn't have done that. I know what you're feeling cuz I've been there and I shoulda known better than to put you through the same shit that I've put up with. I know this apology's not gonna mean a lot, but I do genuinely feel bad for doing that to you."

Kim turned and looked at her, doing her best to keep the angry expression she'd been wearing in place, but found it hard when she looked into Shego's eyes and saw nothing but remorse, sorrow and sadness in them.

Looking away, she let her features relax slightly. "Yeah, whatever. I'll accept that as part of what you can do to make it up to me. And I swear if you make me sit in my own juices any longer, I'm gonna scream again." She deadpanned.

"Ok Princess. Gimme a minute and I'll go and get you a change of clothes." She began unbuckling the 4-point safety harness on the chair and opened the door, swinging a leg out before pausing. "Just one more thing before I do, though…" She quickly leaned over and stuck her fingers between Kim's legs and into the juices that had collected on her seat before whipping them back out and sucking them. "Mmmmm. You taste gooood, Princess." She stated before getting out the car and walking round the back and over to a locker.

Kim sat there stunned for a moment. 'Shego has just stuck her fingers in my juices and tasted them! What. The. Fuck.' She opened the door and proceeded to yell at the thief. "You are sick and wrong, you know that?! I canNOT believe you just did that!"

Shego, while still rummaging through her locker for something that would fit the redhead merely laughed. "Believe it, Kimmie. Or have you forgotten I bat for the other side? You should try yourself, too. You might like it."

Kim snorts. "I highly doubt it." She answers.

She proceeded to sit there with her arms folded while Shego took, in her opinion, way too long to find something for her to change into.

What she didn't know is that Shego was doing it on purpose, hoping to get the redhead to try it. "I wouldn't be so sure of that, Princess. Take it from me, you really do taste good." And she did. Shego was still having slight trouble wrapping her mind around Kim's exotic flavour.

Kim huffed, but did end up slightly curious. Was Shego telling the truth? Did she think Kim tasted that good? The heroine supposed so, what with her being a lesbian… Maybe she would…

Yeah, she would. She'd already done one thing tonight that she never, ever thought she'd do. May as well make the most of the sitch.

Glancing over at Shego to make sure she wasn't watching, and for all intensive purposes it looked like she wasn't, Kim unfolded an arm and slipped a finger between her legs and into… 'Jeez! There's practically a pool of it down there!' She thought to herself, pulling her now very moist digit out and examining it.

Shego, who had been watching out of the corner of her eye, grinned slightly. 'Knew ya wouldn't be able to resist…'

Kim glanced over at Shego again to be sure and then brought the glistening digit to her nose and sniffed. 'Well, it doesn't smell as funky as I thought it would…' She admitted to herself.

She gave one final look over to Shego, who still looked to be rummaging through the locker, and stuck her finger in her mouth, licking her own juices off it. 'Ok, I'll give Shego that one. I do taste good.' She begrudgingly admitted, frowning.

Shego, who had watched the whole thing, smiled to herself. 'Shego, you are just too good!' She fished out the spare catsuit she'd been purposefully avoiding. There really wasn't anything else in there Kim could wear, or that Shego would allow Kim to wear, as it consisted of oily overalls and work clothes.

Walking back over to the car, she flung the catsuit in Kim's face, just for kicks. "Sorry, Princess. There's not much else you can wear unless you wanna put on a pair of oily work trousers. Now hurry up and get changed."

Kim eyed the catsuit with disdain. She didn't really want to wear one of these things again, but it didn't look like she had much of a choice. She would rather have worn the oily trousers, but didn't really have the energy to argue.

Unbuckling the harness, she peeled herself out of the, somewhat sticky, seat and stood up, looking for somewhere with a bit of privacy to change. Shego just stood there and stared. The whole seat of Kim's cargo trousers was absolutely drenched! 'Man, when she said she was a squirter, she wasn't lying!'

"You want me to do a quick spin so you get the whole show?" Kim said in an overly camp tone, throwing in a limp-wristed hand flop for good measure, seeing where Shego had her eyes. "Where can I get changed?" She demanded.

Shego snapped her head up to look Kim in the eyes. "Yeah, that'd be real sweet if you would." She said with a grin, sniggering at the tone of Kim's voice. Kim rolled her eyes. "Just change the other side of the car. I won't look, I swear. Besides, I got your mess to clean up." 'And oh what fun that'll be!' She thought.

"You wouldn't be doing that if you'd been a touch more sympathetic." The redhead spat, walking to the other side of the car and unbuckling her New Rocks.

"Trust me Kimmie, this job I really don't mind." The thief grinned before wandering off to get some paper towels.

"You're sick!" Kim called after her.

"Says you! I saw where your hand went when you thought I wasn't looking!"

Kim started blushing and grumbled something about curiosity and lack of privacy that had Shego sniggering something chronic.

Kim got changed into the catsuit and Shego got on with cleaning the seat, 'accidentally' getting her fingers covered on several occasions, sighing when she was 'forced' to lick them clean.

"Hey, Shego!" Kim called from the other side of the car. Shego stood up. "Yeah?" SPLAT! Kim had launched her soggy underwear at the thief and got her right in the face with the wet part.

Kim giggled like a maniac and leant against the car. She'd tied the top half of the catsuit round her waist like you would a jumper that you couldn't be bothered to carry. "I figured I'd let you keep them as a little memento to remind you that I _will_ get you back."

Shego inhaled deeply before reaching up and pulling them off. Her face glistened in places where Kim's panties had been. "Aww, you shouldn't have, Kimmie! I'll keep them on my bedside table in pride of place!" The villain drawled.

Kim rolled her eyes. "Thought you might say something like that. We gonna get going then?" the redhead asked, a hint of impatience in her voice.

"Gimme a minute to clean my face now you got your pussy goo all over it and we'll go."

Kim sniggered, but left it at that, walking round and strapping herself into the passenger seat again. A few minutes later, Shego joined her, a slight bulge under the neck of her catsuit. Kim gawped. "Shego, tell me you didn't!" "Didn't what?" Shego asked. Kim pointed to her neck. Shego merely grinned. "Yeah, I did." Kim rolled her eyes. "You're disgusting!" She concluded, folding her arms.

They left the workshop, Shego being a touch more merciful with the revs this time, and arrived at the old industrial estate a few minutes later, Shego's frantic driving the main reason they got there so quickly.

Pulling up where Kim instructed, she blipped the throttle, purely because she loved the noise, and flashed her headlights.

Kim wondered if anyone would be there at this time of night, and on a weekday as well. She didn't have to wait long to get her answer, though. A car came out of nowhere and stopped inches from the front of Shego's car, making the thief wince. Four men rapidly exited the car and stood two either side of Shego's GT500, hands in their jacket pockets, Kim guessed, ready to pull out handguns.

"What you want? Who sent you?" One of the men on Shego's side of the car demanded.

Kim answered, leaning over Shego to address him. "Er, hi. I'm Kim Possible. I know Kevin. I got a favour to ask." She stated hurriedly, eager not to get them both shot.

"What you drive?" He demanded. "Mk3 Cortina, standard." She answered. "Stay right there while I check that with the Boss." He instructed before walking off and puling out a mobile phone. "Yeah, Boss? I got a couple o' chicks in a Shelby 500. One says she's Kim Possible. Yeah. Says she drives a standard mk3 Cortina. Yeah, definite redhead. Ok Boss. We'll keep 'em here 'til you turn up."

Walking back over to the car, he instructed the two women to stay put until 'the Boss' turned up. Kim looked at Shego and shrugged. "Seems to be standard procedure from what I've worked out." She offered. "Yeah, ok. As long as this doesn't take too long. I do wanna get _some_ sleep tonight." The villain complained. "You think I planned to be out this late? Or to be dragged off to Drakken's lair and subjected to… _that?" _She pointed to Shego's neck where the thief was obviously wearing her dirty underwear as some sort of necklace.

Shego smirked. "You love It really."

"If you know what's good for you, you'll take that back and shut the fuck up." Kim spat dangerously. Shego knew that tone of voice all too well. Kim only used it when she was majorly narked, and now was one of those times. "Sorry, Kimmie. My bad."

After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, they heard the faint roar of an engine and waited. Within a minute or so, it was right on top of them. They could hear the sound of turbos spooling up and the chatter of blow-off valves over the noise of the exhaust. 'Whatever it is, it's gotta be quick.' Shego surmised. Kim just sat there in a stony silence.

Shortly, the car pulled up next to the Shelby ant the window was wound down. "Hey, Kim. Long time no see!" Shouted Kev over the noise. Kim turned her head and her face lit up. "Kev! How's it going?" She asked as he turned off the black Nova. "It's going good. Finally got that turbo setup finished. Still need to work out a few bugs though. She tends to spit flames on the overrun." He commented.

They got out and exchanged pleasantries and Kim gave Kev a quick kiss before explaining why they'd come down and she introduced him to Shego, who had stayed in the car, sulking for some reason Kim had no clue over. "Yeah, I can set that up. Gimme a couple of days to get it all sorted and I'll letcha know. You know your mobile number?" He asked. Shego chose that moment to interject.

"Be better if you take mine, don't you think? I'm the one that wants the race set up in the first place." The thief said in a somewhat jealous tone, surprising even herself with it.

"Uh, yeah, ok. Shoot." Replied Kev in a slightly bewildered tone. Shego reeled off her number and lapsed back into silence.

Kev leant over to Kim and asked in a low voice, "Hey, what's her beef?"

Kim thought for a moment before smirking and answered in an overly loud voice, "I reckon she's just jealous cuz I get more luck with partners than she does." Kev laughed and Shego folded her arms and seethed quietly.

Then a little voice at the back of her head spoke up: 'You're not jealous because she gets more luck, you're jealous because she's not into you like you want her to be.'

She gripped the steering wheel hard and told the voice to shut the hell up. 'I am NOT into Kim! No fucking way! Besides, she's obviously into that Kev guy.'

The voice refused to halt and carried on: 'So why were you getting off on watching Kim get off? And sticking your hand in her love juices? Several times? And wearing her soggy knickers round your neck? What's that all about? Answer me that, bitch.'

'But dammit, she tasted good!' Shego commented. 'Someone's in loooooooooove!' The voice teased.

'I AM NOT!!' She growled out loud, digging her nails into the soft leather of the wheel. She was not and would never be in love with that sarcastic bitch!

She repeated it to herself over and over until Kim got back in the car. "See you later, Kev! I'll call you on Friday." She called, blowing him a kiss as he fired up his car and pulled away doing a huge burnout. The security left soon afterwards.

"For your information, Kimmie, I am NOT jealous. I could get myself a date whenever I wanted." Shego bit.

Kim was a little surprised at Shego's sudden temper. "Okay, okay. I was only joking!" She said defensively.

Shego grunted, started the car and pulled away, adding to the rubber already on the road.

They drove the whole way to Kim's house in silence. As Shego stopped outside, Kim turned to her. "Er… See you later, Shego. Thanks for the ride home."

"Whatever." Shego answered nonchalantly, not even bothering to turn her head.

Kim unbuckled the harness and opened the door, swinging a leg out.

Before getting out completely, she leaned over and kissed Shego quickly on the cheek. "Until next time…" She whispered.

Kim hopped out the car and shut the door, running round to her outdoor staircase, leaving Shego sitting stunned in the car.

FOOTNOTE: There's pt.1. Once again, I got a little carried away with a few ideas I got hit with, so I'm splitting this chapter up into 2 parts for my own sanity. It's already 2 pages longer than my last two chapters. Next time I promise to get to the racing and Kim finishing her car… among other things.


	5. The Storm Pt2

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry, more lying. I know I promised I'd get to Kim's racing last chapter, then this chapter, but I just got hit with too many ideas I wanted to flesh out, so I'm gonna drag this chapter out into a 3-parter. Kim's racing WILL be in the next chapter. If it isn't, I'll shoot myself.

Draggin' Jeans are trademarked and all that crap. Well worth buying if you ride, cuz they really do test 'em by dragging people down the road in them. More naughtiness in this chapter. I imagine you'll see a slow rise in it over the next few chapters, but nothing between Kim and Shego until at least chapter 7 or 8, so no bitching about it. I got a few more ideas to work through yet.

Chapter 5: Light the Fires and Smoke the Tyres (The Storm) Pt. 2

Ducking as she passed the lit windows of her house, Kim made it to her outside stairwell without being seen by her parents who were still sitting at the kitchen table wondering where Kim had disappeared to.

She carefully made her way up the metal staircase, trying her best not to make it creak and rattle. 'I'm gonna have to do something about this soon.' The hero thought to herself.

Making it to the top without making a sound, she let herself into her room and flipped on the light, shutting the door at the same time.

Kim wandered over to her built-in wardrobe and pulled out a pair of cargo trousers identical to the ones she'd been wearing earlier, albeit not drenched with 'pussy goo'. Kim smirked at the term Shego had used. She had to admit, although she'd never say it out loud, it was fun hanging out with the green meanie and not fighting. Well, not physically, anyway.

She sat down on her bed and took her boots off before peeling off the snug-fitting catsuit. She was starting to see why Shego wore them all the time. The fact they were so tight-fitting did make her feel rather sexy. Maybe, just for shits and giggles, she'd wear one on her next mission.

Giving it a look-over, she noticed a sewn-in label by the neck: 'Property of Shego. Manufactured by Draggin' Jeans. Kevlar-reinforced leather jumpsuit. Handwash only. Do not exceed 40°c while washing.'

Kevlar-lined eh? She'd seen the adverts for Draggin' Jeans on the internet; a man wearing the trousers being pulled behind a motorbike at 40mph and not having any other damage to his person other than all the denim of the trousers being worn away to reveal the Kevlar lining. 'Excellent!' Kim thought. 'I can use it on the 'bike as well! I might get my own one made that matches the bike…'

The redhead finished changing and hung the jumpsuit up next to the other one she had from the mind control incident, checking the one already on the hanger had the same label, which it did. Smiling, she went downstairs to tell her parents she was home, glancing at her clock as she went. 'Jeez! Almost midnight! Man, they're gonna be pissed!'

Wandering into the kitchen, she noted her helmet and gloves were still sitting on the table and her parents were pretty much exactly where she'd left them. "And just where have you been, young lady?" Her mother demanded. 'Man, if I need to be any good at lying, now's the time!'

She took a deep breath. "I was out on a mission." She said easily, surprising herself.

"Oh have you? And where was that?" Her mother glared at her with an accusing look.

'Oh shit! I hadn't thought that far!' "Er- Namibia. Yeah, Drakken had set up some… thing that was gonna dry the entire place out and dump the water over some dry place and flood it. I didn't catch details." She reeled off hurriedly.

"And can Wade attest to this?" Her father asked. He didn't bother mentioning Ron because he knew the blonde would lie for Kim. "Yeah… sure. Hold on while I call him." She reached into the pocket where her Kimmunicator should be and her eyes went wide. "Oh shit!" She whispered. It was still in the other pair of trousers she'd left by Shego's car!

"Watch your mouth, Kimberly-Ann!" Her mother warned. "So where's Wade then? I see no Kimmunicator with his face confirming this story." She said dangerously.

"I musta lost it while I was fighting Shego…" She answered with a preoccupied look on her face. Luckily her parents bought that one and let that matter drop.

"We'll let it go for now until Wade can get you a new Kimmunicator. As soon as he does, We want him to confirm what you've told us." Mr. P instructed her.

"Yeah, sure thing. I'll let you know ASAP when I get it." Kim said, relieved. She grabbed her helmet and stuffed her gloves inside. "Night. Love you." She said, giving both her parents a quick hug and disappearing off upstairs.

Mr. P sighed. "Do you believe her?" He asked his wife.

"I don't know, dear. It's not often she's this late back after a mission, but it does happen." She let out a sigh of her own. "I suppose we'll just have to take her word for it until Wade can tell us otherwise."

Up in Kim's room, she was finding her helmet somewhere to live. "Where can I put you?" She asked the domed headgear. Looking around the room, she focused on a set of shelves that had been gathering dust. On them, her collection of Cuddle Buddies sat forlornly. "I really gotta do something with them." She sighed. She decided she was getting too old for stuffed toys, but had left them up there just so the wall didn't look totally bare. "Now's as good a time as any I spose." She conceded.

Walking up to the shelf, she shoved them to one side, leaving a big enough space for her helmet and set it down in place before rummaging round for an empty box.

Kim found one that had previously contained the complete new front brake setup for her Cortina and tipped it upside-down, letting the empty wrapping fall to the floor. She'd clear it up later. If at all.

She held the box at the end of the shelf and slid the toys off into it, dropping the box in a corner of her room.

Sitting down in front of her computer, she sent a quick email to Wade explaining the sitch and not to bother sending her a new unit until she told him to.

Kim grabbed the phone on her desk/workbench and sat there for a minute thinking. She'd heard Shego read out her number and was trying to remember it. Finally it came to her and she punched it into the handset and hit the call button.

------------------------------

Shego sat there in the car, stunned. There she was, convinced that Kim was straight as an arrow, yet she'd leant over and kissed her before she'd left! Once she'd got over herself, a grin spread across her face the Cheshire Cat would be proud of. _'And you say you're not in love._' The voice from earlier started in a disbelieving voice. 'Yeah, and you can just shut the fuck up.' She answered it, her grin turning to an instant scowl. 'It's merely a passing sexual attraction.' She tried to convince herself as well as the voice in the back of her head. _'Yeah, you keep telling yourself that.'_ 'Oh piss off.' She spat at the voice before pulling away , yet again leaving rubber as she left.

Getting back to the lair, she parked up and went to get the cover out of the trunk before noticing Kim's sticky trousers thrown halfway under her Monaro and remembering the soggy underwear round her neck. She unzipped her catsuit just enough to pull out part of the soiled panties and looked at them. 'I hope this is just a passing attraction cuz I'm fucked if I wanna get in too deep again. I've had enough of being used.' The thief concluded.

Shego stooped down to pick up Kim's trousers and noticed she'd left her Kimmunicator in her pocket. 'Dumb redhead. She'd forget her brain if it wasn't secured in her skull…' The thief smirked to herself and stowed the device in another pocket of her jumpsuit and threw the trousers on the bonnet of the Monaro while she re-covered her baby.

Grabbing the trousers, she made her way back up to her quarters and threw them in the laundry basket before flicking the radio back on and sitting in front of her computer, which she had left on from before she went out. She flicked through e- and v-bay for a YZR with little success. Although she did see something rather interesting. Somebody was offering the RD500 engine with an RGV250 rolling chassis. 'Hmmm… I might have to look into that. Maybe Kimmie could help me build it.' The thief thought, before realizing what exactly she was thinking. "Dammit! How in fuck did that irritating, sarcastic bitch get so far under my skin in a single fucking evening?!!"

Shego got up again and decided to beat shit out of the punchbag in the gym Drakken had supplied her with. Grabbing a towel, she raided the fridge for a bottle of water before going to her room to change into more suitable clothing.

The thief pulled out a pair of green spandex cycling shorts and a black sports bra and chucked them on her bed before emptying the pouches and pockets of her catsuit and slipping out of the tight clothing, giving herself the once-over, deciding she'd give herself a trim when she came back before slipping into the shorts and bra. Shego grabbed the towel and water and without realizing it, her mobile as well, and headed out the door, still with Kim's underwear round her neck.

Arriving at the gym, she threw the towel and water down in a corner and headed straight for the punchbag, laying into it for a good 5 minutes without stopping before a familiar sound distracted her. "What the fuck? I didn't pick my mobile up when I left." Shego thought out loud, pausing for a second and looking for where the noise was coming from.

It was then she noticed it laying very close to the towel and water, vibrating across the floor as it rang. 'Musta picked it up with the towel.' She conceded and went to answer it, wondering who could possibly be calling her. She had very few numbers on the phone and most of those were from the villain community. Either way, she called them, not the other way round.

Picking the irritating device up, Shego registered the caller was an unknown number before answering it. 'Whoever this is, you got the wrong number." She practically yelled down the phone, hanging up before the caller got chance to say a word.

Shego started walking back to the still swinging punchbag when the phone started to ring again. "What the fuck? They can't be that dumb twice in a row!" She snatched up the phone a second time and answered it again, just about to launch into a verbal attack when the caller yelled "It's Kim!" down the phone at her.

"Kim? Kim who?" She asked, the name not registering for a few seconds. "Kim Possible, dumbarse. You've got my Kimmunicator." She stated.

"Yeah, and your trousers. I suppose you want 'em back." Shego replied.

"Nah. You can keep the trousers as well if you like. I got, like, a million more pairs. I need the Kimmunicator back ASAP though." Kim said sounding slightly desperate.

"Whatever. I'll drop it round in the morning, probably around 11 after I get up." Shego told her.

"I'll be in school by then. Any chance you could drop it by there?" Kim asked, hopeful.

Shego sighed. "I suppose so. Now stop pestering me! I was in the middle of something!" The thief barked down the phone.

"Yay! Thank-you Shego! See you tomorrow, sexy!" Kim chirped down the phone in a cheerful, dizzy voice before cutting the call. Then what she'd said finally connected with her brain. "What the fuck? Where did that come from?" She thought out loud. _'You want me to answer that?'_ The voice asked sarcastically. 'No. Fuck off.' Kim thought back at it before putting the phone back on the stand and changing for what felt like the zillionth time that day and collapsed on the bed, the day's activities finally catching up with her. She crawled under the covers and was dead to the world in seconds.

Shego was standing there staring at her phone in disbelief, and had been for the past minute. 'Kim called me sexy? Man, that girl is just full of surprises.' She thought. _'Yeah, you might have a chance with her after all!' _The voice squealed with glee. 'AND YOU CAN JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP AND CRAWL BACK INTO WHATEVER FUCKING HOLE YOU CRAWLED OUT OF!!!' She thought at the voice, suddenly so incensed she threw her phone across the room and sprinted to the punching bag, unleashing such a violent series of attacks it was ripped out of the ceiling and slid/rolled all the way across the room and impacted the wall with a dull 'thud!'

"Bollocks. Now I got nothing to play with!" Shego moaned at the empty room. She decided to go and have that shower she'd been planning.

Grabbing her stuff, Shego trekked back up to her quarters and threw her battered mobile back on her bed and wandered into the shower. She peeled off the sweaty garments and threw them in the laundry basket on top of Kim's trousers, but tossed her 'necklace' in the sink.

Shego turned on the water while still outside the shower and let it warm up before stepping underneath. She hoped a hot shower would help ease the tension she was feeling and wash away the crazy thoughts she'd been having all evening.

Once she was standing under the water, she closed her eyes and leant against the wall, letting the heat work its way through her. Unfortunately, the hot water had the opposite effect to the one she was hoping for and found herself wrapped up in a steamy fantasy, imagining Shelly's hands running up and down her naked body, caressing her boobs and pinching her nipples.

She turned to kiss her, but the lips she met weren't Shelly's, they were Kim's. The kiss she imagined them sharing was hot and passionate, filled with lust and a wild desire she could only imagine the petite redhead possessing. As Shego broke the kiss, Kim smirked at her. "What's the matter, sexy? Kissing your rival too much for you?" She mocked, before sliding her fingers inside Shego, hitting her G-spot and bringing her to a screaming orgasm almost instantly.

"Heh. Shoulda known you were a screamer too. And you'd look better shaven." Kim said, before Shego snapped back to reality, finding herself sitting on the floor of the shower panting heavily, her fingers still inside herself.

Shego sat there for a minute, catching her breath. "Wow… That's the most intense orgasm I've ever had in my life!" She whispered to herself. The voice of reason reared its ugly head again. _'Passing attraction, eh? Whatever you say, Shego.'_ It taunted before going quiet and leaving Shego to her thoughts. She couldn't quite get over the fact she'd had the best orgasm of her life while fantasizing about Kim! It was incomprehensible!

Just to spite the fantasy, she decided she'd leave herself unshaven. It was petty, but it made her feel better about it all. She finished washing and dried herself off, wandering over to a filing cabinet and pulled out a long t-shirt while wondering why Drakken couldn't invest in some proper furniture rather than used office equipment.

The thief walked back over to her bed and moved the stuff she'd dropped on it onto her bedside table and threw back the covers before going to turn off the lights.

Shego crawled into bed and was out in seconds.

------------------------------

The next morning, Kim sat bolt upright as she heard her alarm. "Whu- where? Eh?" Man, she'd slept like the dead! Was she really that tired? She supposed so.

Crawling out of bed, she dug out some clothes and pulled them on. She decided on trainers and the Swiss camo pattern shorts she didn't wear yesterday and the red Metallica boob tube from yesterday, deciding she'd take whatever her father could throw her way about the tattoo. After all, she wasn't planning on just the one.

Plonking herself down at the table after her morning's ablutions, she failed to see her father behind his paper as usual. "Oh, morning, Kimmie. Your father had to go in early this morning. Something about one of the rockets not being quite ready for the scheduled launch today." Her mother answered, seeing the confused look on her daughter's face.

"Oh right." Kim replied before digging into the pancakes that had suddenly appeared in front of her.

"Kimmie, did you wear that top on purpose? Because I would have thought after yesterday, you'd have a bit more sense than leaving… that on display with your father around." Mrs. P commented.

"I figured it was about time he knew about it. It's been a long time since I've been a baby and I've got a sneaky suspicion I'm old enough to make my own decisions in life by now." Kim answered with a smirk.

Her mother let out a small laugh. "I suppose you're right, Kimmie. Just don't say I didn't warn you when you end up grounded." She replied with a smirk of her own.

Kim rolled her eyes just as the doorbell rang. "I'll get it!" She yelled before springing out of her seat and bounding to the door. She pulled it open to see Ron, as usual, standing there with the same daft grin on his face as he wore everywhere.

"Hey KP! How's it hangin'?" He asked jovially as she stepped aside to let him in.

"Yeah, it's cool, Ron." She lowered her voice slightly. "I got a favour to ask. If my mum asks where we were last night, we were in Namibia fighting Drakken and some huge dehumidifier."

"Uh, yeah, sure, Kim. Namibia, Drakken, dehumidi-wotsit." He answered, frowning in concentration. "Why am I saying this?" He inquired, looking confused.

"I got dragged out last night to sort out some racing stuff and didn't get back 'til nearly midnight." She explained, still in a low voice.

"Ohh, okay. Gotcha." Ron replied, smiling. "Thanks, Ron." Kim beamed, giving him a quick hug.

Ron's goofy grin broadened. "No problem KP! The Ron Man's got yer back!"

They wandered back into the kitchen and Kim sat down to finish her pancakes. Ron and Mrs. P exchanged the usual pleasantries and she set him down a few of his own pancakes, which he thanked her for and began eating.

Rufus, smelling the food, quickly woke up and scurried onto the table, aiding Ron with clearing his plate. "Mmmmm! Pancakes!" The molerat twittered.

A few minutes later, they were heading out the door and off to school. On the way, Ron noticed Kim's tattoo. She'd managed to keep it a secret from pretty much everyone for fear of word getting back to her father.

"Man, Kim! That tat is totally badical! When did you get it?" The blonde asked excitedly.

Kim explained she'd had it nearly a year, but didn't want anyone knowing about it for fear of her father finding out. "Ohh, the whole being grounded with no car deal. Yeah, I can see why you'd keep it secret." He conceded.

Shortly, they arrived at school and did their usual pre-lesson drill of talking more rubbish by Kim's locker and sorting through the various homework they'd not printed out yet.

Wade appeared on the screen. "Hey Kim. I got your email last night. When are you getting the Kimmunicator back?" The boy genius inquired.

"Hey Wade. Shego's gonna drop it by around 11." She answered easily. It was only when she saw the two males staring at her like she'd grown a second head and turned pink that the penny dropped. "Oh jesus." She whispered to herself in shock.

"Kim, you wanna tell us why Shego has your Kimmunicator?" Ron asked, a serious edge to his voice.

"Erm… Well… It was Shego who dragged me out last night for this racing thing, something happened and I had to change my trousers and I left the Kimmunicator in them and forgot to take them with me when I went home." She rambled hurriedly, looking from one disbelieving face to another. "I swear that's the truth!" She exclaimed.

"So why would Shego drag you out to sort some problems with racing for her?" Wade asked, still refusing to believe Kim's story.

"Remember that break-in I asked you to look into, involving Shego's new car? She found out that I'd been poking my nose in and… Well, let's just say she wasn't very pleased about it." Kim explained.

"Okay, this is starting to make sense now. I still don't get why you had to change and why Shego's got the Kimmunicator." Ron said, still puzzled.

"Trust me, Ron. You really don't wanna know." Kim assured him, not wanting to relive the incident of being brought to a mind-bending orgasm at the hands… foot, rather, of Shego.

"Oh, Wade, I meant to say thanks for finding the bike. It's totally fuckin' awesome!" Kim interjected before either of them could ask any more questions.

Wade smiled. "Glad you like it, Kim. I was searching for a week before I found that one. The guy selling it was a proper motorhead. Was only selling it because he'd had an accident and couldn't ride it any more. From what Betty said, he almost cried when GJ loaded it into the plane."

"I can see why." Kim replied. "It's absolutely amazing! I've never had an adrenaline rush like that in my life!"

They talked for a few more minutes until the bell went for class. Wade bit them goodbye and the pair trekked off to class.

The morning's lessons were as dull as they always were and Kim found herself clockwatching, counting the minutes until 11 when Shego would arrive. It worked out she'd be in the 5-minute 'limbo' period between lessons where students shuffled between classrooms on the way to their next lesson.

The time eventually came and the bell went, but was drowned out by the roar of a deafening V8 barrelling through the school carpark and pulling up outside the main doors. Practically the whole school stuck their heads out of windows and doors or rushed outside to see what was making the noise. Kim had to elbow her way through the crowd to get outside. Shego had already got out and was leaning against the door, arms folded, tapping the Kimmunicator against her upper arm and looking overly bored with the whole fiasco.

Kim was still pushing her way through, getting more irritated by the seemingly never-ending crowd by the second. She suddenly snapped. "WILL YOU FUCKING RETARDS GET THE _FUCK_ OUT OF MY _FUCKING WAY_?!!" The redhead exploded. The whole crowd went silent and parted like the red sea. "Thank you so much." She said in her sweetest voice as she walked over to Shego.

"Wow, Princess. Nice crowd control." The green woman commented.

"Thanks. Comes in handy now and again." Kim replied. "I see you brought the Shelby out to play again."

"Yeah. After last night, I thought it'd be rude not to." Shego winked, smirking and Kim blushed, something that wasn't lost on the crowd and the babble started back up again at this new, extra-juicy bit of gossip. Shego leaned in close. "It still smells of you in there, too." She said in a low voice. Kim blushed harder. "So, uh, can I have my… that thing back now?" She asked, pointing at the Kimmunicator, having temporarily forgotten it's name.

"Yeah, whatever. Here ya go, Kimmie." Shego held out the device and Kim took it, stuffing it in her pocket. "Thanks. I spose I'll see you soon, no doubt." She said with a small smirk, the colour finally starting to drain from her cheeks. Kim couldn't wait to see Shego's reaction when she turned up dressed in one of the thief's catsuits.

"More than likely. I got a feeling Blue Boy's got some monster scheme in the pipeline. He's been unusually quiet lately. Anyway, catch you later, Princess." Shego got back in her car and fired it up, pulling away in a cloud of tyre smoke.

Kim turned round and walked back into the building, the crowd finally dispersing now the show was over, although Kim did notice a lot of the other students began looking at her strangely. She'd find out what it was all about soon, no doubt.

The rest of the morning dragged by slowly, as usual. Ron was strangely distant. When she asked him about it, he waved it off and pretended it was nothing. Truth of the matter being he'd heard the rumours that were going round the school since the morning and couldn't help but get sucked in by them. 'Kim and Shego? Like _that?_ It wasn't possible! Was it?' He kept thinking to himself. He felt crushed. He had been clinging to the idea that maybe, just maybe, he had a chance with Kim, but if she was gay for Shego, he had no chance.

At Bueno Nacho, they were joined by Monique. "Kim, the whole school's talkin' 'bout it, but I gotta hear it from your mouth. Are you and greenie an item?" She blurted out as she sat down. Kim was used to her bluntness, but she sat there stunned into silence by what had come out of her dark-skinned friend's mouth.

Once she had regained something close to logical thought, she managed to form a sentence. "Where in fuck did that come from?!" The redhead demanded.

"You mean you haven't heard?" Monique asked in disbelief. Ron was sitting there listening intently to the conversation. He had seen some of the pair's exchange in the carpark, which was why he was partly believing the rumours. "Girl, the whole school is goin' on about how they think you and her got it on in that fine set o' wheels she was rollin' in. You tellin' me it ain't true?"

"Of course it's not fucking true! I don't bend that way, Mo! I know you swing for both teams, but that doesn't mean we all do!" Kim blurted out.

"Girl, ain't nothin' wrong wit' swingin' both ways. Means I got twice as much choice as your average person when it comes to gettin' low down an' dirty. And don't you pull that face at me, Kim! I know what you did with that band you went to see. Bonnie wouldn't shut up about it for a month!"

Kim's eyes glazed over and a smile worked it's way onto her face as she remembered the night she'd lost her 'V' plates with Skid Row, then she replied. "I'm not saying there is, I'm just saying I don't."

Ron had been sitting there taking all this information in. 'Monique's bi? Since when? And Kim isn't? Oh thank fuck!' He thought and let out a long breath he didn't know he'd been holding. "Fuckin' BOOYAH!" He yelled. Both girls turned and looked at him. "What?" He asked, playing dumb. He knew exactly why they were looking at him, so he had to buy himself time to think up a cover story. Luckily, he had a saving grace.

"And why exactly did you just yell 'booyah' across the whole of Middleton?" Kim asked him.

Ron shuffled uneasily. "Oh, er, um, yeah. It's just sunk in that my parents bought me a moped for my 18th next month. Yeah. Err… I'm… not really s'posed to know about it, but I saw it under a tarp at the back of the garage the other day. Yeah. That's it." He managed to save himself quite well, he thought, although he sat there rather tense all the same.

"Cool. The Ron Man's gonna have his own wheels at last!" Monique said excitedly. New gossip was always welcome in her opinion, no matter how insignificant the topic.

Ron relaxed as the heat was taken off him and returned to Kim. "So why is it the whole school's sayin' they saw you blushin' when Shego mentioned last night?" Monique probed. She was eager to find out exactly what Kim was hiding.

Kim, however, had no intention of giving up the reason behind the blush. "Monique, just so you don't get confused, I'm gonna spell this out in plain English; I will never tell you or any other living soul what went on in that car. Not now, not ever. And I intend to make sure Shego knows exactly what I'll do to her if she decides to let slip. So, if I were you, I'd drop the issue, or I might get nasty." Kim explained, taking time over it to make sure the full meaning was transmitted.

Monique, not wanting to spark the redhead's notoriously short fuse, let the matter drop. "Okay, girl. I hear ya. Consider it dropped."

They spent the rest of lunch talking about the usual topics and prodding Ron for more info about his moped. The rest of the school day went relatively normally and Kim and Ron walked home together as was the norm when Kim was without transport.

Kim bid him goodbye as they reached Kim's door and they parted ways.

The next few days passed in a haze of boredom and spanner-twirling for Kim. The days were filled with school, and the evenings with working on her car. She had nearly finished the engine and was just waiting for a welder she had won on eBay to turn up so she could weld up a sump for it.

It was Friday night and Kim had still heard nothing on Shego's race. She was getting up to call Kev and see if the race had happened yet when the Kimmunicator went off. "Hey Wade, what's the sitch?" She asked in a slightly bored voice.

"Hey, Kim. Looks like Drakken and Shego are breaking into a cyber robotics lab in Missouri." Wade said, almost mechanically.

"Ride?" Asked Kim.

"There in 5. Ron's on his way." Wade informed her.

"Cool. Thanks, Wade."

"Later, Kim." The genius cut the connection.

Kim headed for her wardrobe grinning. She reached inside and pulled out one of Shego's catsuits and laid it on the bed, pulling off the clothes she was wearing and slipping into the tight leather and Kevlar suit. "Man, how does she cope with wearing underwear in this?" She asked the room. Then it dawned on her and she couldn't help but blush. Shego _didn't_ wear underwear underneath it. Not once had Kim ever seen a visible panty or bra line. Even thongs left a hint of a telltale indent somewhere.

She quickly pulled the suit off again and stripped out of her underwear as well and pulled the suit back on, feeling a lot more comfortable. As she didn't have the boots to go with the suit, she fished about for her flame pattern New Rock shin boots and slipped them on, doing the buckles up as she went.

The only things that she wore from her regular mission gear were the utility belt and pneumatic impact wrench-shaped grappling hook. She hooked the Kimmunicator on the belt as well and checked herself in the mirror before disappearing downstairs with a smirk. She definitely liked the new look. The green went with her eyes, the black went with everything and the red from the boots went with her hair, so it was all co-ordinated in one way or another.

She ran out the door to wait outside for the lift just as Ron was running up the path to ring the bell. "Uh, hi KP. Why are you wearing one of Shego's jumpsuits?" He inquired lamely, his eyes running up and down his best friend's figure. It was like he was seeing her as a female for the first time. She looked positively stunning in the new attire! And Kim saw him looking.

"Do you not like it?" Kim asked sweetly, pouting ever so slightly and standing in a pose that accentuated every curve. Damn, she felt sexy in this suit!

"Wha? No! Uh, yes! Er… can I get a second opinion?" Ron babbled incoherently. Rufus sensed his owner's confusion and poked his head out of his usual pocket and glanced at Kim, doing a double-take. "Wow!" The small mammal managed before giving Kim the thumbs-up. "Nice!" He squeaked appreciatively.

Kim smiled at the molerat. "Thanks, Rufus!" She bent down and patted him on the head, the way she bent giving Ron a great view of her arse.

The blonde completely lost all sense of logical thought and stared. For minutes or hours, he didn't know or care. It was only when Kim screamed his name did he finally register anything else existed. "Ron! Stop staring at my arse! Our ride's here!" She yelled at him over the noise of a hoverjet.

He quickly recovered himself and they climbed aboard.

They jumped out of the plane an undetermined amount of time later, Ron diving first as he knew Kim had a tendency to lose herself in the adrenaline rush of freefall and forget to pull her 'chute cord on time.

Landing without incident -for once- on the roof of the building, they went through the usual motions with the criminal duo. Kim could almost guess step-by-step what was going to happen and that frankly irritated her. Life had become too predictable. She yearned for the thrill of the chase she got when she first decided to take up the job of teen hero.

Jumping through the skylight, she landed silently, directly behind Shego. "Boo!" She yelled and dug her hands in the thief's sides at the same time.

"JESUS CHRIST!" Shego screamed, spinning round and lighting her hands. Kim moved with her and stood behind the thief, having to use every ounce of self-control to keep from bursting out laughing. "What the fuck? Where did you go, Kimmie? I know you're here!"

Finally, Kim couldn't hold it in any longer and snorted before howling with laughter behind the thief, having to support herself on something to keep from collapsing. "You- your reaction! You must have jumped about three feet! Oh my god, I haven't laughed like that for ages!" Kim managed to get out after calming down slightly. The whole time, Shego stood there looking murderous with her arms folded.

"Har har, _Princess_. Not funny. And what the fuck are you doing wearing one of _my_ catsuits?" Shego spat.

"Oh, but it was! And I just thought I'd make use of my resources. Don't you like how I look in it?" Kim asked, still sniggering.

Drakken had looked over to see what the laughter was about and was a little surprised to see Kim wearing one of Shego's jumpsuits, but didn't have time to worry about it. "Shego! This is no time for pleasantries! Attack her!" He ordered, before Ron came out of nowhere and rugby-tackled him to the floor. "OOF! Where did you come from?" He demanded in an incredulous tone.

Ron replied. "Skylight. Where else? If you paid more attention to what's going on, you would have spotted us."

"Whatever. Get off me, you buffoon!" Drakken snapped before using one of his latest inventions on the jovial teen. It was basically concentrated sleep gas that, at close range, knocked a person unconscious for hours. Ron, unfortunately, got a face full and was out for the count.

Drakken kicked the boy off him and continued unhooking the machine while Kim and Shego fought. He pressed a few buttons on a remote round his wrist and one of his heavy-duty hovercrafts dropped through the roof, huge lifting chains swinging dangerously below it. Drakken quickly secured the machine he was after, some form of robotic assembly line, to the chains and called to Shego that they were leaving.

"Well, much as I'd love to fight you looking like that all night, I gotta go, Kimmie. Nothing personal." Shego said, backflipping away from the gorgeous teen and jumping onto the machine, wrapping a leg round one of the lifting chains and blew Kim another kiss. Shego had to admit, she did look amazing in her old catsuit and it was all she could do to keep her mind on the fighting.

"Aww! So soon? I was just beginning to get warmed up!" Kim retorted. "Ron! Where are you?" She yelled.

"Your bumbling sidekick is unconscious over there!" Drakken answered, a huge grin plastered on his face. "Finally, I have thwarted you, Kim Possible! You're really not 'all that'! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

Drakken and Shego flew off and literally disappeared while Kim hunted frantically for Ron, finding him sleeping like a baby over by a box where the machine used to be. She whipped the Kimmunicator off her belt and called Wade. "Wade! Can you track Drakken's hovercraft?" She asked frantically. She hated being beaten and wasn't about to let 'Blue Boy' get away if she could help it!

"Sorry, Kim. I got nothing. Drakken's obviously got some hi-tech cloaking device or a signal jammer on board cuz I can't even get a good lock on you and Ron." He said weakly. He'd had the hovercraft on his radar for a few seconds before it literally disappeared. Every method of tracking he tried, he came up blank. Even thermal imaging, which picked up most things, was registering a big, fat nothing.

"Shit. Can you do a scan of Ron? He's been hit with something and he's out cold." Kim said, worried.

"Sure. Hold the Kimmunicator out so I can get a full scan." Kim did as he asked and soon Wade had the results. "He's been hit with some kind of sleeping drug. No lasting effects but he's gonna be out for a few hours." Wade informed Kim sadly. He knew how much Kim hated being beaten at anything.

Kim let out an angry yell and kicked a crate, putting a sizeable hole in it. She'd been beaten this time and she knew it.

Several hours later, they were back in Middleton and Kim was in an absolutely foul mood. She had a good mind to ring Shego up herself and express her displeasure, but knew the thief probably wouldn't answer, not to mention she'd forgotten her number, and forgot that her phone stored the last 10 numbers dialled. She'd realise it later.

Ron was finally awake again and was sitting at Kim's kitchen table with a cup of strong Irish coffee listening to her rant about having let the criminal duo escape and Drakken having an unfair advantage.

"KP, drop it, will ya? For fuck's sake, it's not like we won't find out sooner or later what he's up to!" He bellowed at the ranting redhead, which stopped Kim in her tracks instantly. Ron never swore unless he was seriously narked. "Thank-you! I've got enough of a headache already from that gas, I don't need you making it worse!" He said icily.

"Sorry, Ron. It's just so fucking irritating being bettered with an unfair advantage!" She complained.

"Think yourself lucky you weren't hit with that gas! My head's killing me!" He'd been squinting the entire time he'd been awake because, as far as he was concerned, everything was just too damn bright! "I'm gonna sit outside. It's too bright in here." He finally decided.

Kim followed him outside and they sat on the bottom step of her staircase and ranted some more. Kim about Drakken escaping and Ron about his head.

Saturday morning rolled around and Kim got up around 11, deciding to have a lay-in for once. When she eventually got up, she got round to the phonecall to Kev she didn't make last night.

"Hey, Kev. How's it going?" Kim asked when he picked up.

"Oh, Hi Kim. It's all good. What can I do for you?" He inquired.

"I just wanted to know if Shego's had that race yet. You said you'd let me know so I could come and watch." Kim reminded him.

"Oh fuck! Sorry, Kim! The race was Thursday night. I completely forgot to call you! I been so busy lately with the car and setting up the race it slipped my mind." He answered honestly, regret in his voice.

Kim pouted on the other end of the phone. "Damn. I was looking forward to that! Oh well. Who won, anyway?"

"Shego, by a few car lengths. It was a close race though. I mean, Shelly's a really good driver and had the better car if I'm honest, but Shego drove like a woman possessed! Damn, that woman can drive!" He relived the race (or what he saw of it) in his head and smiled. Shego really had driven well. So well, he'd invited her along on Saturday to race with the crew.

"Cool. Well, I just thought I'd phone up and check. Glad it went well for her. I should have the car finished in the next few weeks, so I guess I'll see you then." She said, feeling a little let down she didn't get to see Shego racing.

"Ok, Kim. Look forward to seeing the Cortina finished. See you later." He said.

They said their goodbyes and hung up, Kim still feeling a bit upset that Kev had forgotten to call. She decided to busy herself with her car and fit the front suspension.

The redhead was out in the garage the second she'd finished breakfast and was really getting stuck in. She'd saved up enough money from her occasional babysitting and what was left over after insuring the Gas Gas that she'd sent the rear axle off to be professionally narrowed, shotblasted and powdercoated, black obviously, and was waiting for that to come back so she could rebuild it with an LSD and the rear disk brake setup she'd ordered. She'd gone for the 4-stud pattern so she could use the original steel wheels the car came with rather than the 5-stud pattern that the axle had originally.

Kim was also waiting for the wheels to come back from the engineers. She'd opted to have them widened rather than buy aftermarket alloys for that real sleeper look. She was going to leave them bare metal so they'd rust slightly, making it look even better.

By mid afternoon, she'd finished cleaning all of the road dirt and grime out of the arches and had the front clip painted and fitted and decided to leave it there for the day. There wasn't much else she could do until the axle and wheels came back and the welder turned up. The rollcage had been fitted and the rear seats were in, the gearbox had been loosely mounted and all the wiring had been tidied up and the engine bay was ready for the engine to go in.

Saturday night rolled around and Shego was getting ready to go out racing. She had decided against her usual catsuit and instead was dressed in just the boots, a pair of black Levi's and a strappy top. She didn't feel like dressing up. She wasn't there to wow people with her fashion sense, she was there to wow people with her driving.

Pulling the cover off the GT500, Shego grinned. She was looking forward to showing off her driving. She started it up and rolled out, still being able to smell a hint of Kim hanging in the air inside. 'Maybe she'd like to come down tonight and watch…' The thief wondered to herself. 'Nah. She'll only bitch and moan about me and Blue Boy having managed to escape her all night.' She concluded.

It was settled then. She was going by herself.

She rolled out of the workshop and headed to the lockup at a relatively sedate pace. She didn't want to drive fast on the way there because she'd had Drakken up the power to the full 900+ it was capable of, just so she could embarrass the posers in their rice burners. But at the same time, she'd unleashed a whole new beast.

She turned on to an empty stretch of road and decided to have a little play. She put it in top gear and stamped on the throttle. Usually, with 700bhp, the engine would bog slightly and launch her up the road with little to no wheelspin. With the full monty of over 900, the wheels lit up and Shego had to fight with the steering wheel to keep it in a straight line as the rear wheels tried to overtake the front. She backed off slightly and as the tyres hooked up, she was thrown back in her seat as the classic Mustang was launched down the road. 'I could get used to this!' The thief grinned.

When Shego got to the place she and Kim had arrived at on the redhead's birthday, she parked up and flashed her lights. She was met this time by a single racer who led her to the lockup and inside. Hiroshitu, for it was him once again, showed Shego round the lockup and introduced her to Kev, who she already knew. "Hey, Shego. No Kim tonight? I thought you woulda brought her down to watch." Kev said as he shook her hand.

"I did think about it, but I couldn't be bothered to put up with her bitching. I got one over on her last night and she's still gonna be sore over it. That and she still owes me some revenge from that night we asked you to set up the race." She admitted with a smirk.

"Ok, fair play." Kev conceded. "In other news, depending on how you do tonight, we'll get you your own spot in the workshop end of things if you need one." He informed her.

"Cool. Although I doubt I'll need it. Got my own pet mechanic back at the lair. Stroke his ego just right and I can get him to do anything I need." She grinned devilishly. Kev laughed. "Can't argue with that. Anyway, I gotta get back to fiddling. I'll no doubt see you outside. I give a 15 minute warning before the other crew start to arrive so people can finish up what they're doing and get outside." He explained before wandering off.

Hiroshitu showed Shego round the other racer's cars, just as he'd done with Kim and Monique. Shego was also suitably impressed with the machinery on show, particularly fond of an old Skyline KPGC10 somebody was racing with.

They'd fitted the more modern RB26 engine and gearbox out of a RWD R34 but had kept with the naturally aspirated theme of the original and had a set of 50mm twin choke Webber carburettors bolted to one side with some huge trumpets thrown in for good measure, and a very shiny, yet very discoloured exhaust manifold that looked like a coil of snakes bolted to the other. The car itself was metallic black with very dark metallic green detailing. The general theme of all the cars was black and green, which Shego approved of no end.

The thief spent the rest of the time wandering around the place taking in everything before Kev gave the 15 minute warning and people began rushing to get everything prepared and the cars back together. Shego got back in her own car and buckled up, waiting for someone else to be the first car out.

Engines started firing up everywhere and people started filing outside. Shego fired her own up and was a bit disappointed when it didn't draw many admiring glances. She remembered Kim's face when she'd unveiled her baby and how excited she'd been. It gave her a warm feeling and she smiled. 'At least she appreciates my stuff.' Shego thought to herself.

The two-tone beauty sat there for a while lost in her thoughts until the din in the lockup began to rise as drivers queued up to get outside, blipping throttles and occasionally holding them at full throttle to 'clear the engine's throat'. She turned her own car round and joined the end of the current line.

They eventually rolled outside and Shego started to feel a bit nervous, not that she showed it. Kev came up to her passenger door and opened it, sitting down in the seat with one leg hanging out the door. "Sorry, I completely forgot about this part." He said hurriedly. He had a device in his hands. "Every racer has their own satnav system in the car with a USB slot to upload the tracks into. As you're new, you get the loaner. It's a bit tatty and temperamental, but then it's been used by god knows how many racers." He explained while hooking the device up in the car. Shego just sat there and watched him work.

Once he was done, he switched it on and began going through how to work it, explaining that a race organiser would come round with a USB flash drive and she would upload the night's tracks into the system and how to do it. He also explained that the first round of races were always one-on-one, then it was pairs and tonight it was circuit racing. Races were usually 3-4 laps depending on the length of the circuits and the start/finish was marked by green flares.

He said there would be several lookout cars to make sure everyone stayed on course, so nobody took a 'shortcut' and cheated. Anyone that did was instantly disqualified from the race and the money they had bet on the race was kept.

"So what do you do for racing noobs with no money?" Shego inquired.

"Every crew has a different way of dealing with that. What we do here is stump up the cash for their first race. If they win, we take our cut and they get the rest. Obviously, money goes down the lower you place. Anywhere outside the top three, you get nothing, and we keep your car until you can pay us back. Try and run off with your car, security and lookouts have instructions to shoot to kill. So far, nobody's been that stupid." Kevin said with a smirk.

"I'd better do well then, cuz I doubt you want to have to replace your security any time soon." She replied with a smirk of her own, one of her hands flaring up to show what she meant.

Kevin raised an eyebrow at her. "I thought I recognised the name from somewhere. I'm surprised you're not being hassled for autographs or something. You're a bit of a celebrity in the racing underworld. Nearly every racer's got a picture of you stuck somewhere." He revealed with a laugh.

Shego was a little surprised at the news, but again didn't let it show. "Well I hope they're into scarification cuz I don't use pens."

Kev laughed again and said he'd see her later before getting out and jogging back to his own car. Shortly, a race organiser turned up and handed her a flash drive as Kev had explained. She uploaded the tracks into the computer as he told her who she'd be paired with for the later races and, when asked, told her that somebody would knock on her bonnet when it was her turn to race.

After a few races, which Shego got out to watch with some of the other racers, she was called up and told to load track 4 on the satnav, which she did before driving up to where the startline was. She noted her opponent was driving a Honda S2000. She couldn't see the driver as all the windows were pretty much black. Giving the car a once-over and being suitably unimpressed, she concentrated on the starter when the car beside her started revving it's engine in obvious displeasure. Shego guessed they'd seen her disapproving look, so responded with jabbing the throttle of her own car, making the whole thing rock from side to side and spit foot-long flames out of the exhaust on the overrun, noting her opponent had since shut up.

She grinned as the starter put his hands up, counting down both drivers with his fingers. Shego engaged the line lock to the front brakes and proceeded to pull a huge 3rd gear burnout to get the tyres warm, much to the pleasure of the crowd, who started to cheer and clap.

Seeing the starter was counting down from 2, she finished the burnout and flicked off her line lock, but left the car in 3rd, knowing even with warm tyres, 900+ ponies weren't gonna let her get away without a wheelspin in anything lower.

A few seconds later and they were off, Shego falling behind slightly as the Shelby still managed to wheelspin off the line. Dipping the clutch, the wheels hooked up and she was, once again, thrown back in her seat as the huge amount of power from the engine was transferred to the road and she'd passed the Japanese machine in the blink of an eye.

Keeping one eye on the map, she navigated the course with relative ease, using the bulk of the American musclecar to slide round corners as she began to get a feel for the new power delivery. As they got into central Middleton, she had to start really working the car to get it through the traffic, the weight turning from help to hindrance as she had to try and anticipate what the traffic was doing so she could get the weight transfer just right. Once or twice, she gave it a bit too much power and had to frantically countersteer as the back end started coming round.

The S2000 driver saw the opportunities and used them to get close to Shego, waiting for her next mistake. Shego could sense the other driver riding her bumper without having to look in the mirror. She imagined it was meant to intimidate her, but it merely made her more determined to get away from them, and she started pushing herself harder, slowly but surely pulling away from the Japanese machine.

Shego set herself up for a sharp left-hander, but suddenly found the rear end of the car was coming round a lot faster than she had anticipated as the Honda driver nudged the rear of her car and she started to spin out, watching in fury as her opponent disappeared round the corner She obviously hadn't pulled far enough ahead and the lighter, more nimble ricer had caught up.

Shego was livid. Nobody, NOBODY even BREATHED on her baby without a say-so, let alone nudge it! She stamped on the throttle and in a flurry of noise and tyre smoke, whipped the car round so it was facing the right direction and thundered off after her opponent, threading through traffic like a needle through fabric. The thief could see her opposition's tail lights up ahead and pushed harder on the throttle, determined to catch them before the next corner and show them exactly what it was like to spin out.

They were approaching a fast right-hander and Shego could see the other driver had gone into a drift to keep their speed up. She mimicked them, but went into the corner far hotter, engine screaming and the tyres howling in protest at being abused, drifting up behind them in seconds. In a careful manoeuvre, she let the front of her car drift into the back of her opponent's as she drifted round the outside, and grinned evilly when their back end started coming round with her front, but their front not following at the same speed.

As she straightened up and came out of the corner, she laughed as she saw the Honda facing the wrong way and at a standstill. She fed the engine another gear and thundered down the road before braking heavily for the next corner and pouring on the power as she sailed round it, the back end only twitching once or twice as the tyres reached the very limit of their grip.

Shego was enjoying the race immensely as she blasted through a quiet residential district, her exhaust note reverberating off cars, houses and trees as she reached 170mph and changed into top gear, accelerating to 200 in a few seconds before letting her foot off the throttle to coast down the 'On' ramp for the short motorway section of the track.

As soon as she was on the wide expanse of tarmac, she went heavy on the gas, the whine of straight-cut gears and the supercharger almost as loud as the engine as she cracked 200 and carried on to a top speed of 215, the rev counter deep in the redline and the car becoming twitchy and skittish as Shego fought to keep it under control, keeping her eyes open for the 'Off' ramp she was supposed to take and weaving in and out of traffic, the cars looking like they were going backwards at the immense speed she was travelling.

Seeing the exit she wanted, Shego made a beeline for it and stood on the brakes, slamming home 4th, 3rd, 2nd gears and letting the clutch up as she hit the ramp, scrubbing off the speed fast as the engine backfired like a shotgun repeatedly to make the sharp left to the start/finish flares at the other end of the bridge.

Pulling a quick handbrake turn, she floored the throttle before the car had finished swinging round to the right direction, unburnt fuel in the headers igniting in another firework display from the side-exit exhausts. She travelled half the distance of the road sideways, tyres howling in protest once again before she managed to get the car straight and the tyres regained traction.

Taking a quick glance over the bridge barrier, Shego caught the briefest of glimpses of the Honda in the distance, darting through traffic like a gazelle on steroids. The green woman smirked and pushed the pedal harder, the car surging forward like some ancient metal beast of the night.

The next 2 laps went without incident as Shego had completely gotten used to the new power delivery and the way the car acted in accordance with it. The Honda driver was nowhere to be seen by the time she rolled back to the lockup, a huge grin on her face at having won her first proper race.

Shego pulled up to a large crowd and huge noise as everybody clapped and cheered. She got out of the car and a well-built man walked forward and shook her hand, congratulating her on her victory and handing her the prize money for the race. He told her that he'd already taken the crew's cut of the money and what was left was hers to use to bet with on the next races.

"Thanks. Wow! That's a lotta cash just for some fancy driving!" She commented.

The treasurer laughed. "It's an expensive habit, racing. But as you can see, the rewards are worth it." He replied, smiling as he walked off.

Shego grinned. If she got good at this racing business, she might even be able to give up working for Drakken! Now that _would_ be novel…

The thief stood around and watched the second race start. The Skyline she was drooling over earlier was up against a Mazda MX-5. 'That doesn't sound like any MX-5 I've ever heard.' Shego thought to herself. She overheard one of the rival crew talking to someone in the crowd. "Yeah, he's put the 20B 3-rotor motor out of a Cosmo in it and built his own turbo setup." 'That'd explain the noise, then.' She concluded.

Moving in closer, she heard the Skyline fire up and the driver gave it a few revs. The engine sounded raw and animalistic as the high compression ratio worked with the deafening induction roar causing the engine to almost literally bark and growl; Shego almost found it slightly intimidating.

The starter raised his arms and counted them down, both cars letting the revs build slowly, and then they were gone, engines screaming as they nailed the pedal and shot off up the road.

As the races passed, Shego noted that she felt alive while she was there, something she only ever previously felt when fighting Kim or stealing something. The noise, the atmosphere, the smell of burnt rubber, petrol and exhaust fumes, of grease, oil and, to some extent, sweat. She smiled. She felt like she had finally found some sort of home. Somewhere she fitted in without being judged by her skin colour or how she dressed or looked, where the only thing that really mattered was how well you could drive.

She got to know some of her other team members as she wandered around, talking about their cars and what modifications they'd done to them, they in turn, asking her about her car, whether it was genuine, what she had under the bonnet and just how the hell she learnt to control such a monster well enough to take it racing. The thief took great pleasure in revealing the information, knowing that they'd never use it against her.

Once the night was over and she'd managed to win most of the races she was entered for, only coming second in one to her team-mate, which she didn't hold against him, Kev came up to her and congratulated her on her first night's success. "You did well tonight, Shego. I'm impressed. I could tell you were a good driver, but after tonight's display you've proved you're on a completely different level to some of the crew members. Perform like that again next week, I might even get you racing with me, see just how well you perform under pressure." He told her, smiling.

"Thanks. Nice to know I'm appreciated." She replied with a grin.

"No problem. Oh, just a word of warning, I'd look at getting your Holden up to spec, cuz some of the other crews can get a little rough during the race. Most of my crew's cars have spent a lot of hours in the body shop for repairs. That skyline you were ogling? Not one panel on that car hasn't been repaired or replaced at one time or another, and I doubt you want anyone ramming that." He indicated her Shelby.

Shego thanked him for the information and they parted ways for the night. _'You're going soft.'_ The voice started. 'I am not going soft. I just see no need to be rude and obnoxious to someone who's done nothing but be helpful.' She answered. 'Besides, I've finally found somewhere I fit in. So bollocks.' The voice, for once, couldn't come up with any argument against that, so shut up for the night, and Shego drove back to the lair quite pleased with herself.

FOOTNOTE: Well, there's part 2. Can't really say much apart from that was actually quite difficult to write, trying to keep the length down to something that wasn't ridiculously mahoosive. As it is, it's about 10,700 words, the longest chapter thus far. Fingers crossed, I'll be able to keep 'em down to a more sensible level from now on.

Next chapter, Kim FINALLY gets round to opening Monique's present after having forgotten about it for a few weeks, gets a job with GJ and…stuff. That's all I'm gonna reveal for now.


	6. The Storm Pt3

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Like Chapter 3, I got the idea for Monique's present from CyberDog (dot) net. It's called the porthole dress, and it's the long one, not the short one. And this is gonna be a monster chapter. I've broken the 12,000 word mark with this one. I've seen entire stories shorter than this chapter!

Chapter 6: Light the Fires and Smoke the Tyres (The Storm) Pt.3

As Kim had nothing to do come Saturday night, she decided to get on with some of the homework she'd managed to put off. Then remembered Monique's birthday present she hadn't opened yet. "Oh shit! Man, how bad does this make me look?" She asked out loud, frantically searching her room for the bag.

Upon finding it under a pile of empty car part boxes, she pulled the bag off and tossed it to one side, putting the box on her bed, deciding the workbench was unsuitable having still got the almost finished engine sitting on it.

Flipping open the box, she pulled out the contents. It was a black pinstripe dress with what could only be described as portholes cut into it, framed by rings of soft, black leather. There was a slit up one side of the dress that stopped just below hip height. Kim looked at it and gawped. The dress looked stunning and Kim could only fantasize about what she could wear it to, then it hit her. "Kim's got herself the perfect prom dress. Just wait 'til Bonnie sees me in this!" She said to the room, an evil glint in her eye.

"Belle of the ball? That'll be me…" The redhead sighed confidently before putting the dress back in it's box and stowing it up on the shelf with her helmet. She phoned up Monique and finally told her she absolutely loved the dress. "Hey, no problem, girl. I'm just glad you like it." Monique said, smiling. Not that Kim could see it.

After a brief chat, Kim hung up and started on her homework. She had let a fair amount of it build up and eyed the pile with disdain. "Ah well. It's not like it's gonna do itself." She sighed in defeat, grabbing whatever was on top and looking it over. 'Great. History homework for Barkin. Why the fuck do I have to take history anyway?' The redhead thought to herself miserably before firing up her computer and setting to work.

Kim eventually got through the bulk of it by around midnight, deciding that enough was enough and her eyes hurt too much to bother with any more. The hero massaged her eyes and yawned before saving her work and turning off the computer.

She stripped out of her work clothes and had a quick shower before falling into bed, dead to the world in minutes.

The hero was woken early Sunday morning by her Kimmunicator going off. She snatched it off the nightstand and growled into it before even checking if it was Wade or not. "This better be bloody good for waking me up at this hour, Wade."

"Good morning, Kim." A female voice said in a very businesslike manner. "Sorry to wake you, but I would like to see you at GJ headquarters in 30 minutes." She said.

It took Kim's brain a while to come up to speed. "…Wait, what?" She asked, confused. Then her eyes focused fully on the small screen to see Dr. Director staring back at her. "Oh! Right, yeah. My bad. Was wondering why Wade suddenly sounded like a woman." The redhead answered with a smirk.

Dr. Director let her hard, business-like demeanour slip just enough to let a small smile creep onto her features. "I don't think they can do sex changes in under 24 hours yet." She replied sarcastically.

Kim laughed, finally fully awake. "No, I spose they don't. So where am I getting picked up? Or rather sucked down from?" She inquired.

"Just be walking to the end of your road in… 27 minutes." The head of GJ informed her. And make sure you're fully dressed. Nice as the view is, I'm not that way inclined."

Kim raised an eyebrow before her eyes went wide and she started blushing furiously, pulling the covers round herself. The redhead had forgotten she'd gone to bed wearing nothing but girl boxers. "Oh my god! I totally forgot about that! Sorry!" She said hurriedly.

Dr. Director let out a quick laugh. "No need to apologise. It'll take a little more than that to unsettle me, Kim. See you soon." She said and cut the connection.

Kim cursed. That was so embarrassing! Letting the head of GJ see her almost nude! She flicked the covers off herself and lay there for a few minutes, stretching. Getting up, she pulled out her 'new' mission attire, figuring she may as well dress for business, as she was obviously going to be talking business.

As she pulled on the catsuit, she sniggered to herself, remembering making Shego jump last time they had met. Kim finished dressing and walked downstairs for breakfast. She had a little over 15 minutes before she had to be out of the house.

Walking into the kitchen, she saw her father behind a newspaper as usual, although still in his dressing gown and slippers. "Morning, dad!" She greeted him cheerily, giving him a quick hug before going to make herself some tea. "Morning, Kimmie-cub." He replied, not looking up from the paper.

It was only when his wife came in a few minutes later and did a quick intake of breath followed by a barely audible "Oh my!" Did he look up. "What's the matter, dear?" He asked, confused. Kim, too, had turned slightly to look. "Kimmie, what _are_ you wearing?" She asked, more than a little surprised at her daughter's choice of attire. Mr. P also turned to look at his daughter and, on doing so, his eyebrows shot up in surprise, noting her clothing fitted her form a little too well for his liking. "Yes indeed, what _are_ you wearing?" He asked, a little more forcefully.

"What? It's called a ca-er, jumpsuit. I decided to start wearing it as those cargo trousers were getting in the way a bit. I find this is so much easier to work in." She told them, having to think up the reasoning on the spot. It was partly true, though.

"That's all well and good, but doesn't that green woman… Shergo? Shebo? Doesn't she wear those?" Mr. P asked, still rather confused. He surmised he must have hit the nail on the head as Kim started blushing slightly.

"Err…" She faltered. She guessed it was no use lying about it. The heat she could feel in her cheeks had already given the game away. "Yes, she does. This is one of hers." The redhead admitted.

"Then how did you come to have it?" Mrs. P inquired, just as confused as her husband.

"Remember when I came home from that mission I had to take the Tweebs on? I was wearing it then. I hung it up in my wardrobe with a view to giving it back, but never got the chance." She admitted. This, too, was true, just not for that particular suit. It was the other one that she'd worn that day, but she wasn't about to tell her parents where she'd gotten the one she was wearing.

Kim happened to glance at the clock. "Oh crap! I'm not gonna be able to finish my tea now! Thanks, guys!" she complained.

"Why not?" Her father asked.

"I've gotta be out the door in about 5 minutes to get to GJHQ!" She answered heatedly, taking a long slurp of tea, making a face as she realised she'd forgotten to put sugar in it.

"Well, let me make you a quick bacon sandwich you can eat on the way, dear." Her mother offered, hurrying over to the fridge and pulling out the bacon, to the cupboards and pulling out a frying pan and then over to the cooker to get it all fried. Kim busied herself cutting the bread and buttering it, taking another long slurp of tea, having finally sugared it.

5 minutes later, she was running out the door, bacon sandwich in hand, and finally slowed to a stroll as she neared the end of the block, taking huge bites of her 'nutritious' breakfast, tapping the sandwich with a finger to dislodge crumbs.

Before she knew what was happening, she was being sucked down a tube that had appeared under her feet as she'd taken a bite of her sandwich, managing to bite the end of her tongue in the process, making it bleed. "Fucking ow!" She cursed, still with a mouthful of bacon and bread.

As she was transported to GJHQ, she lazily continued eating her sandwich, ignoring the slightly metallic taste of blood. She was spat out the other end a short time later and managed to land in a defensive crouch, still with 1/3rd of a sandwich left to eat and bit her tongue for a second time. "Cunts!" She yelled out loud, having caused the injured muscle to bleed even more.

"No, we are Global Justice Agents." A smarmy, yet slightly mechanical-sounding voice answered. Kim looked up into the face of her all-time least favourite agent, Will Du. She straightened up and glared at him. "I'm afraid you won't be able to finish that sandwich. There is a bin by the door you can deposit it in." He informed her with a very smug grin.

Kim, becoming even more irritated at the insinuation she wouldn't be able to finish her breakfast, which she had been enjoying, spat a mouthful of blood directly onto the stuck-up agent's left boot before taking another bite of her breakfast. "Like fuck you're gonna be able to make me give up my breakfast, Willie."

Will Du was outraged! How dare she disrespect him in such a manner! She had defaced his immaculate uniform with her bodily fluids and then proceeded to unashamedly tell him she was going to break the rules, and with her mouth full! It was obscene! His face contorted into a mask of pure fury and balled his fists, digging the nails into his palm.

Kim watched the display with silent joy, taking another bite of her sandwich. "Just take me to where I gotta be, bellboy." Kim told him after watching him stew for a few moments.

'Willie' turned on his heel and stormed off, Kim having to take long strides to keep up with the irate man, a huge grin plastered on her face the whole way.

She finished her sandwich just as the uptight agent stopped dead in front of a set of doors that looked exactly the same as every other set. The redhead almost walked into him, but stopped a few inches short, her grin being replaced with a frown. "This is Dr. Director's office. She is waiting for you inside." Will answered through clenched teeth before storming off.

"Tosser." Kim muttered to herself as she pushed the door open and strode in.

Betty Director was seated behind her desk amidst a mere mountain of paperwork, a folder open in front of her, which she was reading from. A TFT monitor sat to one side of the desk, it's display lighting up the one-eyed woman's features with an almost sinister glow. Kim felt slightly nervous.

"That wasn't very nice, really, was it? He'd spent hours polishing those boots you know." She said suddenly, not even looking up.

Kim jumped slightly. "Yeah, well he deserved it. Getting all sarky with me and telling me I couldn't finish my breakfast." She replied in a bitter tone.

Betty finally looked up and fixed Kim with her one eye, her expression completely neutral. Kim stared straight back, not flinching at all.

Finally, Betty moved, motioning with her hand for Kim to take a seat. The redhead walked forward and sat down, never taking her eyes from the brunette's gaze. Betty's eye followed her movements. It was a while before either of them said or did anything.

"Nice catsuit. Can't imagine where you would have got it." Betty eventually said with a smirk.

Kim grinned. "Merely making best use of my resources." Kim replied easily, feeling more at ease instantly.

The Director let out a short laugh. "Yeah, ok. Whatever you tell yourself to sleep at night." She replied in a sarcastic tone. "I'd like to offer you a job as a field agent, Kim. Your record has been exemplary, even if some of your methods are a bit… unorthodox, shall we say. I believe you could be a great asset to the organization, and it's about time we had some fresh blood." Betty told her.

Kim was slightly taken aback. They, or rather, Dr. Director, wanted to employ her? Man, this was turning out to be a strange month… "Er… pardon?" Was all Kim could come up with.

Betty smiled. She could tell the redhead hadn't been prepared for it. "You're 18 now, Kim. In most cases, you're classed as an adult. You certainly drink like one, even though it's another 3 years before you're legally allowed to. I've had my eye on you ever since you started the world-saving business." She admitted.

Kim raised an eyebrow. "Wait… how do you know how much I drink? More to the point, how do you know I drink full stop?" She inquired, eyebrow raised in confusion.

"Oh come now, Kim. Surely you know GJ better than that by now. I could tell you how many times you came when the drummer was eating you. I have eyes and ears everywhere. Some of my better agents went undercover as security at that gig you spent all week going to."

The redhead blushed furiously at that, trying to cover her embarrassment with a scowl. "Yeah, ok. You've made your point. I'd appreciate it if you didn't reveal any more embarrassing titbits… As for the job offer… Hmmm… I take it you'll be offering Ron the same opportunity after his 18th. And what about school? And my weekend activities? Sick pay? Pension? Holiday? Oh, and thanks for picking my bike up. I appreciate that." She threw in as an afterthought, remembering the card she had received from the woman sitting in front of her.

Betty sat there completely unfazed at the barrage of questions. "That's quite alright. The man we picked it up from was most pleasant, if a little coarse and odd-looking. Yes, Ron will be offered a job once he has turned 18. You will still go to school as normal, but you will be very much 'on-call'. Normal office hours are 8 'til 6, however agents such as yourself have a rotating shift working a 24/7 on-call shift one week in every month. Saturday and Sunday are, like in any other regular job, your days off, unless you happen to be working the aforementioned 24/7 shift, more commonly known among agents as 'the mindfuck'."

Dr. Director paused for a moment for Kim to digest what she had told her so far before continuing. "Sick pay is as follows: For agents who have worked here for up to 12 months, you get 1 month full pay, including shift allowances, 2 months full pay, without the shift allowances, then 3 months half pay. For agents who have been her longer than 12 months, it goes up. It's all explained in your copy of the contract. Pension is, if I do say so myself, rather reasonable. Again, it's in the contract. Holiday is roughly a month a year, not including national holidays. It's worked out in hours, so depending on when you take your holiday depends on how many hours you will be using."

Kim sat there absorbing the information and mulling it over in her head. She had just 1 final question. "So what's the pay like?"

Betty smiled. "This is the good bit. As a new agent, basic pay starts at $20,000 a year. You get bonuses for missions completed successfully, taking into account unnecessary property damage, civilian casualties etc. Once you've completed some basic training, it goes up $5k. Top field agents are earning up to $52k a year before tax." She reeled off.

Speaking of reeling, Kim was doing exactly that. '$52 G's a year! Fuck!' "I'm in." She said simply.

The head of Global Justice smiled before pulling out a piece of paper from the folder and passing it to Kim with a pen. "If you'd like to sign at the bottom please." She asked. Kim quickly signed it and Betty took the contract back, pulling off the top copy and putting it back in the folder and handing the second copy, the signature printed on it through the top sheet, back to Kim. "That's your copy to go over. As I said, everything's explained in there. Anything else is explained in the GJ handbook which I'm sure Will Du will be all too happy to spout at you." She chuckled at her own joke. Kim also sniggered.

"I think I'd sooner bite my tongue and spit blood on his boot again than listen to him rant." Kim quipped.

"I can't say I blame you. He's a brilliant agent, but fuck me is he a stuck-up dick sometimes!" Betty admitted. Kim burst out laughing at this.

They exchanged pleasantries and Will Du, his boot miraculously spotless once again, escorted Kim back to the 'tube room' and after a few minutes, she was once again back on the corner from whence she had been taken.

She trotted home, a massive smile on her face. 'I'm in the monaaaaay! I'm in the monaaaaay!' She sang in her head. She practically burst through the door and strode into the kitchen, hugging both her parents with a huge grin on her face.

They both looked a little confused at this. "Kimmie, what's happened?" Her mother asked warily.

"GJ just gave me a job! I'm finally gonna be able to pay you guys back for my bike!" She burst out cheerfully.

"Oh, on that note, when do my lessons start?" She asked, remembering the fact her father had promised to organize some.

"That's wonderful news, dear!" Her mother beamed at the news. She'd said many times Kim should get paid for her work. Now it looked like she was.

"Congratulations, Kimmie-cub! And I've set you up some lessons starting Tuesday after school. I told them you had your own bike so you don't need to use theirs." Mr. P informed her.

"Cool. Thanks, dad!" She cheered before disappearing up to her room to call up her friends and tell them the good news.

She called Ron first, as she had other things to tell him as well. "Hey Ron. I got big news!" She babbled at him as soon as he answered.

"Shoot, Kim." He said, signalling he was all ears.

"I got a job at Global Justice!" She squealed, hardly able to contain the excitement of finally having money to buy fuel more than once a week. It meant she could look into a specific mission vehicle or two for those jobs that were a little closer to home as well.

"Booyah! Nice work, KP! Looks like Bueno Nacho's on you from now on." He stated as if it was common knowledge.

Kim raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?" She asked in an incredulous tone. "Since when did we decide I was buying your food?"

"Since you started earning." Ron answered in a 'Duh!' tone of voice.

"Like fuck I'm paying for your eating habits!" She shot at him. "Besides, as soon as you're 18, they're gonna offer you a job as well. You'd be a fool not to take it." She told him seriously.

"A-BOOYAH!" Ron yelled down the phone. Kim held it away from her ear slightly and grimaced.

"Warning would be nice next time, Ron." She moaned.

"Sorry KP. It just comes at such a perfect time, cuz I was contemplating applying for Bueno Nacho again, but what with the missions, I doubt they'd go for it. See, I'm gonna need a job to run my moped and get lessons and stuff." He explained.

Kim wasn't really listening. She was too busy thinking about all the cool new stuff she could buy! Mission vehicle was high-priority, though. It had to be some sort of 4x4, it had to be strong, it had to be reliable, and it had to be powerful. Ideally with a big diesel, although a V8 petrol would suffice if it was big enough, she thought.

"Kim? Helloooo? You there, Kim?" Ron was doing his best to get Kim's attention.

"Wha? Oh, sorry, Ron. I zoned out for a minute there. Got a lot on my mind at the moment." She said quickly.

"Hey, no worries KP. I understand. Getting a job's a big thing nowadays." Ron replied in an understanding fatherly voice. It irritated Kim no end.

"Yeah, Ok Ron. Thanks. I'll see you later." She said hurriedly and cut the call. 'Jeez, how does that moron manage to work my nerves so well in such a short time?!' Kim thought to herself before dialling Monique's number.

She was far more enthusiastic, babbling about how she could spend more in Club Banana and get a decent car at last. "And what's wrong with the one I've got now?" Kim asked heatedly. Was it national wind Kim up day or something?

"Girl, you do nothing but work on that damn thing! I haven't seen you driving it in forever! What are you doing to it anyway?" The dark-skinned girl asked.

"I'm turning it into a racer. I got a new engine and gearbox to go in it, new brakes and susp-" Kim was cut off. "Yeah ok, I get the point, Kim. That technobabble's completely lost on me, girl. All I know is where to put the gas and how to drive the damn thing. I leave the rest of it up to people who know what they're doing." Monique stated.

Kim chuckled. It amused her how clueless her friend was when it came to mechanics. "Man, your ignorance of cars is funny!" Kim stated.

"Oh thanks! I could say the same about you and music!" Monique replied, slightly put out.

Kim laughed again. "You do on a regular basis!"

Now it was Monique's turn to laugh. "I do, don't I…?" She said.

They exchanged pleasantries and hung up, Monique to get on with some fashion designing for Club Banana and Kim to change back into some work clothes to go and find something… ANYTHING to do on her car.

The day dragged by for Kim and she was glad when it was finally time to go to bed. She'd eventually given in and finished her homework in the end, not being able to find much to do on her car other than more cleaning and touching up the underseal on the underneath of the car.

Monday was uneventful, snide remarks from Bonnie not withstanding. She got home and trudged up to her room, coming back down a while later having changed.

"Kim, there's a-"

"Package for you in-"

"The garage."

The tweebs told her as she passed, their gaze never leaving the huge TV in front of them. They were, as usual, watching wrestling.

"Thanks, tweebs." She replied in a bored voice. Kim assumed, as they'd said package, it was relatively small, probably the stainless steel wheel nuts she'd ordered. She wandered out into the garage, finding the door would only open halfway for some reason.

Raising an eyebrow in curiosity, the redhead squeezed through the gap and saw the cause of the blockage. "Package? It's a fucking crate!" She burst out in surprise. Picking up a large flathead screwdriver and a clubhammer, she proceeded to lever the lid of the box off and frown at the amount of loose polystyrene packing inside. "Man, this is gonna make such a fucking mess!" She complained as she stuck her hands in it to find out what was inside.

She hit something metallic and boxy a few inches in. Feeling around a bit more, she made out the shape to be rectangular with vents on one side. "Wicked! My welder's turned up!" She squealed happily, brushing the packing out the way and all over the garage floor, not caring about the mess now.

She heaved the appliance out of the box, the various wires and attachments coming with it, dragging more packing out with them. Kim set it on the floor and gazed happily at the device. "Finally, I can make a sump and get the engine in!" She thought out loud, excited.

Running back into the house, she shot upstairs and got changed into her work clothes again, grabbing the bits of sump she had cut to shape, ready to be welded together. She grabbed a few of the offcuts as well to practice on.

The rest of the evening Kim spent in the garage welding and grinding, only coming out to enlist the help of the Tweebs to help her transport the engine downstairs. She had left the ancillaries for it upstairs, only needing the main block for fitting purposes. The tweebs were only too happy to help. It got them out of tidying their room and got them doing something involving mechanics, obviously something they loved.

Kim bolted the sump on while the Tweebs dragged the engine hoist out and attached the lifting chains to it. Within an hour, Kim and the tweebs, working in harmony for once in their lives, had the engine sitting in the bay, bolted up to the gearbox, only having to take it back out once after a trial fit for Kim to fit the triple-plate racing clutch to the skeleton flywheel. Kim was busy tightening up the gearbox mounts while the Tweebs were busy on the engine mounts.

When they had finished, they stood back to admire their handiwork. "Thanks for the help, tweebs. I couldn't have done it without you." She said honestly.

"No problem, sis."

"It was fun working with you."

They answered.

"Kim, Jim, Tim, your dinner's getting cold!" Mr. P shouted to them. The Dr.'s Possible hadn't wanted to disturb the kids when they were obviously getting along, so decided to make the most of the peace and quiet and snuggle on the sofa to watch a film.

The three offspring wandered through to the kitchen in relative quiet, the twins asking Kim the odd question about what was next to do and if they could help, and Kim actually taking the time out to explain her plans and saying she'd call them if she needed them for anything. "Hoosha!" They said together, high-five'ing each other.

After dinner, Kim went back up to her room to get the intake manifold and Mikuni RS flatslide carburettors she'd won on eBay and had bored out to 42mm and professionally spaced for the manifold. She traipsed back downstairs, finally starting to feel the effects of the day's activities taking their toll. The redhead decided she'd just get it mocked up tonight and worry about making an exhaust tomorrow.

Another boring day at school was followed by an uneventful walk home. Kim was busy thinking about exhausts and how she should route the one for her car while Ron talked at her about his upcoming birthday and working for GJ. They separated with the usual pleasantries, and Kim walked inside.

"All ready for your lesson tonight, Kimmie-cub?" Her father asked.

"…Lesson?" Kim asked, confused.

"You haven't forgotten already, have you? Riding lesson? Tonight in half an hour's time. The instructor's been kind enough to drop by the house for your first lesson." Mr. P informed her.

"Oh shit! I need to get fuel! It's nearly empty!" Kim panicked.

Mr. P waved his hands in a 'calm down' motion. "No need. I thought you might need a hand the first few times you fill up as it's premix only, so I took the liberty of mixing up some high-octane fuel ready for you. It's a bit higher than the owner suggested, but it should be ok."

"What's a 'bit higher' than suggested?" Kim asked warily.

"Well, I had to use a bit of rocket fuel with it as I only had regular, so it's about 110 octane." The rocket scientist admitted.

Kim gawped. "That'll be like riding a missile with wheels! Badical!" She cheered, hugging her father. She rushed upstairs and got changed into her 'new' mission gear and leather jacket, taking the helmet and gloves with her on her way to the garage. She put them on the workbench before opening the garage door and wheeling her bike out, her father following her with a funnel and a large jerry can with the superfuel.

Kim held the funnel while her father emptied the red-tinged liquid into it, Kim keeping an eye on the level in the tank. A few moments later, it was full and they wandered back into the garage to stow the funnel and jerry can. They waited outside for the instructor to arrive, talking amicably about Kim's progress with the car.

The instructor arrived and they exchanged pleasantries. Kim put on the earpiece the instructor had given her, explaining it was so he could tell her what he wanted her to do, pulled on her helmet and gloves and started up the bike, the instructor waiting while she warmed it up.

They pulled away, Kim leading, and the instructor started relaying instructions and correcting her when she made a mistake, either with signalling, road position or observation.

A few hours later, Kim returned home. The lesson had gone relatively well, but Kim still had been constantly reminded to stick to the speed limits and pay more attention to other road users. She had another one tomorrow night, and she was in two minds as to whether she was looking forward to it or not.

The bike hadn't exactly been behaving itself either, coughing and spluttering towards the end of the lesson. Her instructor had surmised it was probably due to spending so long at such slow speeds, so took her to an open stretch of highway and proceeded to tell the teen to 'give it everything', something Kim took great joy in doing. When she had first opened the throttle, the engine hesitated slightly before taking off, emitting a huge cloud of blue smoke for at least a mile before eventually clearing itself out and deciding to run properly again.

Over the next few weeks, Kim's evenings were taken up with riding lessons and working on her car. There had only been the odd mission to go on, even when she had been working 'the mindfuck'. She had phoned Shego up, finally remembering her phone held the last 10 numbers called, and had asked her about it.

Shego had been uncharacteristically short with her, but she managed to find out Drakken was working on some big thing and hadn't had the time to come up with any schemes in the meantime, Duff Killigan had taken a trip to Iceland, the one country in the world he hadn't been banned from playing in, Dr. Dementor was also on holiday, Motor Ed had, as far as she knew, given up on the criminal activities for the most part, preferring to stick to racing, and Monkey Fist and DNAmy had been on a honeymoon in the jungle. Kim had actually gagged at the thought of Monkey Fist and DNAmy together and Shego had laughed at her before hanging up.

Car-wise, Kim's axle had turned up and she had finished rebuilding it, the Tweebs helping her install it with the new suspension setup and anti-tramp kit. She'd actually let them install the new hubs and brake setup, although she had rechecked everything they had done afterwards, surprised to find it all in order.

The tweebs had also been a big help in fabricating the exhaust, having come up with a design that would give optimum flow without being horrendously complex. It was a 4-into-2 system and they exited just before the right-hand rear wheel. Kim had been so impressed with the design, she gave them free reign of her tools and welder to make and fit it, helping out only where needed.

She had fitted the oversized radiator and silicone hoses herself and topped it up with the correct antifreeze mix, turning the engine over on the starter to make sure there was no air in the system before fitting and wiring in the dual electric fans.

The wheels had turned up about a week ago, along with her stainless wheel nuts, and she had spent her first pay cheque on a set of Yokohama semi-racing tyres for them. She fitted them and finally, the Almighty was back on it's wheels, looking very sinister in the dim light of the garage and late evening with it's low stance and deep dish rims, painted matt-black as Kim had decided against the rusty look. All that was left to do was fit the dashboard and seats back in, but Kim was desperate to hear it running before then!

She ran upstairs and grabbed her laptop and the cable to the electronic ignition module and ran back down to the garage. The redhead plugged it all in and spent a few minutes uploading a fresh ignition curve into the unit before connecting the battery and pouring some fresh premium unleaded in the tank, flicking the switch for the electric fuel pump and waiting for the carb bowls to fill.

The tweebs appeared out of nowhere and stood to one side, watching avidly as Kim opened the driver's door, propped herself up on a toolbox she was using as a makeshift seat and slotted the key into the ignition barrel that was loosely bolted to the steering column. She took a deep breath and pumped the throttle once to get some fuel in the ports before turning the key.

The engine spun over a few times before trying to fire. Kim pressed the throttle slightly and was instantly deafened by a cacophony of noise as the engine burst into life, the side-exit exhausts spitting flames as unburnt fuel was ignited by the hot gases of the next charge. Kim sat there with the biggest shit-eating grin she'd ever worn in her life! The tweebs were also grinning like idiots with their hands over their ears.

The redhead let her foot off the throttle and the engine settled down into it's strange tickover, sounding slightly different to the RX-7 she had encountered at the lockup. Getting out of the car, Kim walked round to the front of the car and glanced at her laptop, checking a few diagnostic programs that came with the ignition system.

Everything appeared fine, but it was telling her the engine was running too rich from the fact the computer had to adjust the ignition curve to stop detonation. Kim figured she'd adjust that when she got it to the lockup on Saturday, 2 days away. She reached into the engine bay and twisted the throttle linkage on the carbs, causing the engine's revs to leap instantly, the computer's digital rev counter telling her the engine was doing 5,000RPM. She decided to see just how loud it was at the redline and held the carburettors wide open for a few seconds, the noise actually becoming painful as huge flames shot out of the exhaust and left black scorch marks on the garage wall.

The twins grimaced at the ear-splitting noise, but stood there grinning all the more. It was only that loud because they had made sure to design the exhaust to be that loud!

"HICKA BICKA BOO?!" Jim screamed over the noise

"HOO-FUCKIN'-SHA!" Tim screamed back. He swore after having Kim use the word and they'd then researched every possible meaning on the internet.

They proceeded to take one hand off their ears to high-five each other before quickly clapping it back over their ears as Kim let the engine fall instantly back to tickover and switched it off, smiling happily at the fact her engine ran.

The redhead decided to leave the work on a high and finish the car over the course of Saturday. She had her riding test tomorrow evening and she wanted to focus on passing first time. Taking one final look over her newly resurrected baby, she shut the garage up and shooed the tweebs back into the house.

Friday at school went without much of a hitch. Barkin managed to get Ron with a detention again, then later tried getting her with one, but when she mentioned the fact that she had technically done nothing wrong, that it was her bike test today and she would actually rend him limb from limb if he made her miss it, he decided against it, settling for a warning instead.

Kim got home and prepared for her test. She was actually feeling rather calm about it all. Wheeling her bike out of the garage, she checked the fuel level, topped it up from the jerry can and went over it quickly. She did this more out of paranoia and a slight bout of nerves than actually thinking something was wrong with the bike.

Pulling on her helmet and gloves, Kim went through the ritual of starting the bike and waiting for it to warm up before setting off at a sedate pace to the test centre, arriving a few minutes early and having to wait for the tester to come back from his previous candidate. It was only during that wait did she start to get slightly nervous. She paced outside for a while before sitting down and bouncing her right leg quickly while biting her bottom lip and twirling her thumbs.

The tester came in and greeted her. "Hello. I'm assuming you're Kim Possible. I'm Craig, I'll be your tester for this evening." He said with a smile, holding out his hand.

Kim shook it and smiled back. "Yeah, that's me. Pleased to meet you." She replied, shaking his hand.

"Er, how good are you on your bike? I realise it's a pure race machine and I can imagine it's quite a handful. Are you sure you're going to be alright on the test?" The tester asked, a hint of concern in his voice.

"Well I've taken all my lessons on it so far. Aside from needing a clearout on the freeway after about an hour and a half's slow riding, it's been fine so far and I'm not having any trouble riding it." She admitted honestly with a shrug.

The tester looked a little surprised. "So you're quite at home on the machine then?" He asked, just to be sure.

"Definitely." Kim answered with conviction.

"Well then, we'd best be making tracks then. You're my last candidate of the evening, so I might let you have a bit of fun on the way back, show me just how good on that bike you really are." He informed her with a smirk. Kim grinned.

They walked outside and Kim was given an earpiece similar to her instructor's. Kim pulled her helmet and gloves back on and started her bike again, earning an appreciative glance from her tester at the crisp note it gave off.

They pulled away and Kim's nerves immediately disappeared now she was riding. The test passed in a relative blur, and it was only on the way back did she start paying attention as the tester told her to take the 'on' ramp to a very busy and snaky section of the freeway. "Ok Kim, show me just how well you can ride that toy of yours." He instructed her.

The redhead grinned and dropped it down a gear, snapping open the throttle and shooting off down the road, zipping in and out of traffic like she was on a big assault course. The rocket fuel mix made the bike come alive in her hands. It twitched and bucked as she pushed the machine to it's limits, catching the occasional glimpse of her tester in the mirror, obviously having to work his more powerful machine to keep up with the lightweight Supermoto.

She had to brake hard as someone decided to change lanes in front of her and she felt the back wheel skipping and sliding over the road surface as it locked up. Seeing a gap in the lane the idiot driver had just left, she pinned the throttle and flicked the bike into the space, cutting back in front of the numpty in the car and accelerating down the road.

Riding the revs, she started taking smoother lines through the traffic as she changed into top gear and really nailed the throttle, hitting a top speed of 110 before having to slow down to avoid more traffic.

Her tester caught up with her at this point. "Well, I can certainly say you know how to ride that thing! That was a very impressive display. I can safely say you've passed with flying colours. Take the next off ramp and head back to the test centre."

Kim did as instructed and was soon back at base, the tester handing her the pass certificate with a grin. "Now just remember, there's a time and a place for that type of riding. Don't make a habit of it." He warned her in a friendly manner.

"I'd like to see you try riding that thing sensibly." Kim replied with a laugh.

The tester let out a short laugh of his own. "Heh. I suppose you've got me there. Just be careful. The police will get to know you very quickly if you ride like that everywhere."

"I will try to hold back a bit. You have my word on that." Kim assured him. They exchanged pleasantries and Kim headed home, pleased that she had passed.

On telling her parents the good news, they both rushed to congratulate her, her mother with hugs and kisses, and her father with a bear hug and a thump on the back. "Well done, Kimmie-cub! I knew you could do it first time!" He beamed.

"Thanks mum, dad." She replied. They led her into the kitchen where her father went rifling through a cupboard. Mrs. P sat Kim down at the table. "As you passed, and are now, in our eyes, a responsible adult, we got you a little something." She told her.

Mr. P turned round and held out a bottle of Jack Daniels. It wasn't anything special, but Kim appreciated the gesture. "Aww, thanks, guys. I appreciate that." She said honestly. She hugged them both and went up to her room, smiling.

Saturday morning rolled around and Kim got up late. She'd forgotten how tiring it was riding the GasGas. The redhead figured she'd get used to it with time.

Pulling on some work clothes, she ambled downstairs and lazily worked through the pancakes her mother had made for breakfast before heading back out to the garage to finish putting her car back together.

The dashboard turned into a major headache what with trying to get all the wires for the gauges and stereo in place. Kim had also invested in some quality speakers and a pair of 9" subs so she could at least listen to some decent music when she wasn't racing. She was running them through a good quality, if somewhat aged, cassette player so she could finally listen to some of the classic rock cassettes she had been hoarding, and also listen to the MP3's on her Kimmunicator using an adapter she'd bought from the supermarket.

After a good few hour's work, including lots and lots and lots of obscenities being screamed at the ageing plastic instrument panel, it was finally in place. Next were the bucket seats and harnesses, which went in with minor fuss in comparison.

Sitting in the car, as if for the first time, Kim felt a thrill run up her spine. She had no idea how the car was going to handle, how fast it was going to be or how much of an animal she had created.

Remembering the overfuelling, she spent a few minutes adjusting the carb needles before plugging her laptop in and starting the car up once more, still not able to keep from grinning at the amount of noise, although the flames had now ceased for the most part.

The laptop said the fuel was about right, so she left it at that, planning a proper dyno run once she got to the lockup that evening. In the meantime, she packed her tools up, shut the bonnet and called the Tweebs. "You coming for a ride in the beast you helped create?" She called into the house.

They appeared out of nowhere once again.

"You bet, sis!"

"We wouldn't miss it for the world!"

They cheered.

"Thought you wouldn't. Get in the back and buckle up, then." She told them.

Once everyone was strapped in, Kim adjusted the seat forward slightly and depressed the clutch, noting it was a bit stiff. Probably due to it being a racing item. Selecting first gear, she let the clutch back up slowly, feeling for the bite point. Once found, she let the handbrake off and increased the revs slightly, pulling out of the garage slowly.

She rode the brakes down the drive, noting they were a bit vague and spongy. Pressing harder, the car stopped. 'Probably just need bedding in.' She assumed, before releasing the brakes and carrying on forward, noting the suspension was far from the soggy, comfort-based setup of the original units. The ride was harsh and bumpy in comparison.

Straightening up, the redhead let the clutch out fully, noting how the revs didn't drop at all, but the car lurched forward with a slight chirp from the tyres. Kim grinned. This thing certainly had some power if the tyres started complaining at something like that!

The tweebs were sitting quietly in the back grinning, not that you could really hear an awful lot over the exhaust. Kim pulled onto the main road that their quiet street joined and, noting it was empty, stamped on the throttle. The engine revs leapt straight to the redline, but she noted she was still only doing just under the limit, gaining speed at a snail's pace.

"Oh my god! I've broken it already!" She screamed.

"Naw, sis!"

"We're not going anywhere cuz-"

"You're not getting-"

"Any traction. Can't-"

"You smell the tyre smoke?"

They informed her.

"…Oh." She replied meekly, letting off the throttle slightly. The tyres started to grip and the car started picking up speed at a frightening pace. Kim's adrenaline started pumping and she pushed the pedal back down to the floor, feeding the engine another gear and another and another until the end of the road started approaching way too quickly for the redhead's liking.

Standing on the brakes, the car slowed down, but not quick enough. Kim started downshifting frantically, using the engine brake to help with deceleration. They came to a very sharp stop just behind the markings for another junction. Kim sat there breathing heavily, trying to calm herself down slightly. The twins just looked at her incredulously, too stunned to speak. They had just witnessed their sister apparently scared out of her wits.

Kim pulled away at a sedate pace and headed for the garage, knowing she didn't have a huge amount of fuel in the race-spec foam-filled fuel cell in the boot.

Pulling in, she filled it to the brim with premium and paid, noting how much it cost to fill the gigantic tank up. The redhead once again pulled away at a sedate pace and headed for the freeway. She had to get some sort of feel for the beast before she went racing tonight, she informed the tweebs. They weren't about to complain. They were getting chauffeured about in a fast car. What wasn't to like?

Pulling onto the relatively clear expanse of tarmac, Kim slowly pushed the pedal down, noting how the power was delivered, how the clutch bit as she changed up the gears and the speed crept up past 100, 110, 120 and so on, and how the car reacted. She slowed down and did it again, pressing the pedal a bit harder, the speedo needle sliding past the digits in a blur as she hit 170 without realizing it, still having almost half a rev range left.

The redhead looked into the distance and saw a big billboard and the nose of a patrol car poking out from behind it, and how the road swept round to the left in a way that just screamed 'full-throttle top gear powerslide!'

Who was Kim to ignore such a invitation?

She dropped the car down a gear and booted the throttle, the tyres deciding to stick as they had finally warmed up, and the three siblings were forced back in their seats as the immense power from the engine was transmitted to the tarmac and the car was launched forwards, the front end going light as the weight transferred to the rear wheels as Kim fed the engine another gear, the car accelerating like nothing else as 150mph came and went in the blink of an eye.

Before she knew it, she had run out of gears and was running out of revs fast. 170, 180, 190, 200, 210, 220mph and the engine was at the 10,500RPM redline and Kim was having to fight with the steering to keep it going in a straight line as she screamed past the billboard and badly-hidden police car in the blink of an eye.

The snoozing officer was woken up with a shock as a blurry green something shot past the nose of his patrol car, causing it to rock violently, then he was hit by the noise like a kick in the teeth. It was a noise like nothing else on the planet! It was like an iron banshee screaming her lungs out! He was awake and the car was thundering out of it's hiding place in seconds after the speeding vehicle, already a mere dot on the horizon.

Kim had let off for a split second before nailing the throttle again, feeling the rear of the car start to slide round as she hit the lazy left-hander. She steered into the powerslide, the scream of the engine and howl of tyres filling the interior of the car. Kim had a look of stony concentration on her face, one hand on the wheel, the other on the gearstick. The tweebs had huge grins on their faces and looked out the rear window to see the huge, black tyre marks they were leaving on the road, then saw the flashing red and blue lights of the chasing patrol car.

"KIM! WE GOT COMPANY!" Jim yelled at her, Tim still looking out of the back window.

Kim merely grinned evilly. "He'll never catch us at this speed!" She yelled back, straightening up from the powerslide, still with the pedal pinned to the floor. The car surged forward, back up to the 220mph top speed after having slowed down slightly from the powerslide. Kim took the next corner at full speed, noting how the classic Ford started to oversteer slightly towards the end of the corner. The g-force caused by going round the corner had the three occupants hanging on for dear life as they were pulled towards one side of the car.

The cop saw the display and balked. "How in the hell is that car getting round that corner?!!" He yelled at his steering wheel, urging his already over-revving engine to go faster.

She continued to take corners as fast as she could get away with, having to avoid traffic as it was approaching evening rush hour. The redhead used this to her advantage and zipped in and out of the slower moving vehicles, the cruiser shrinking in her mirror at an astonishing rate.

The officer was yelling obscenities at his car and down the radio, demanding backup and a roadblock as his car topped out at a measly 160mph. He could see the speeding vehicle disappearing into traffic and he didn't even know the registration number! He was livid! The despatch officer had managed to work out from the torrent of abuse spouting from her radio, the car was a green coupe that sounded like a banshee. 'Yeah, great description.' She thought to herself, but put out an all-unit alert on the fast-moving vehicle.

Cruisers started up everywhere and filtered onto the freeway ahead of the location the despatch officer had mentioned, but they were too little, too late. Kim had seen them and had shot up the nearest 'off' ramp and disappeared into one of Lowerton's residential districts, recognizing it as being close to the Blood Tribe's lockup.

The officer didn't see Kim take the ramp and sped straight past it, thinking the car was still somewhere ahead.

Kim pulled into an alley and turned the engine off, hearing the fans still running. She checked the temperature gauge to see it was hotter than it should have been. "Oops. I forgot I should be running it in…" She said out loud.

"Well duh, Kim."

"We thought you were trying to-"

"Blow it up or something!"

The tweebs replied.

Kim shrugged. "Well it hasn't seized, so it should be ok if I take it easy on the way back." She said offhandedly.

The redhead unbuckled her 5-point harness and stepped out of the car, popping the bonnet so she could check everything was ok and nothing was leaking. The tweebs followed suit. Upon opening the bonnet, Kim was hit with how hot it was under there. It was like a sucker-punch to the face. "I am SO drilling holes in the bonnet when I get home!" She exclaimed.

While she stood there, she wondered what else she could do to reduce underbonnet temperatures. Exhaust wrap didn't really work and ceramic chrome plating the exhaust, which she noted had discoloured to a dull brown, was out of the question as she was going racing tonight.

"Any ideas, tweebs?" She asked.

They shook their heads. Kim sighed. "Sod it. I'll just run it without one tonight." She decided. They milled about for another few minutes, giving the engine chance to cool down so it was only warm to the touch before setting off again, this time at a more sensible pace.

Arriving home, Kim checked the time and was surprised to see it was 6:45. Way past dinner time! She quickly got out the car and the tweebs followed suit. They all rushed into the house to be met with disapproving glares from their parents. "My fault!" Kim stated before anyone had a chance to say anything. Her father had opened his mouth to say something, but closed it again.

Kim went on. "I went out on a road test with the tweebs and I completely lost track of time. My bad." The tweebs both agreed, deciding to leave out the fact that they had been doing 220mph and were being chased by police for fear of Kim using some of the pressure point torture on them.

The parents let the tweebs go, but gave Kim a warning to keep a better track of time. "Yeah, whatever." Was Kim's bitter reply. She went to eat her dinner and then ran upstairs to get changed for the night's events.

The redhead had a quick shower and pulled a black, tight-fitting t-shirt with a 'Sexy Inside' logo on the front in the same style as the Intel design off the pile in her wardrobe and grabbed a pair of tight-fitting blue jeans from another. She went with a black thong and decided against a bra for once.

Pulling on the garments, she put her workboots back on, grabbed the keys and Kimmunicator out of her work jeans and ran down the outside staircase as she'd noticed it was 7:35 pm. Kim went through the garage, grabbing enough tools to remove the bonnet, hopped in the car and sped off to the lockup, making it there in record time. She was led there again, this time by the KPGC10 Skyline Shego had been drooling over, not that Kim knew that.

As Kim rolled into the lockup behind the Japanese classic, she was actually shocked to find Shego's Shelby already parked at the back. "What the fuck? What's she doing here?" The redhead wondered aloud.

Looking around the lockup, she saw a few people had turned to look in her direction, most notably the RX-7 owner she'd talked to first time there. He was looking confusedly at the car before making eye contact with Kim and giving her a signal to rev it, a command to which she happily obliged. He seemed to nod to himself and followed Kim's car out to the rollers.

Kim drove up onto the dyno before realizing she had absolutely no clue on how to work it. She got out and looked around for Kev when the RX-7 owner made his presence known. "Hi, name's Rick. Have you dropped a 4-rotor in that?" He asked.

Kim, caught a little off-guard, replied. "Er, yeah. Built it myself." She stated simply.

"Mind if I have a look?" Rick asked.

Kim smiled. "Sure. I'll pop the bonnet. I need to get it set up though. Any chance you could give me a hand?" She inquired.

"Yeah, no problem. What you running? It sounds different to mine." He told her.

"You can thank my brothers for that. They designed a custom exhaust for it that maintained optimum flow while not being stupidly complex, so I let them get on with it. I'm running Mikuni bike carbs on it inlet-wise. I wanted to keep it simple. Electrics scare me." She admitted with a laugh.

Rick nodded, chuckling. "That'll be why it sounds different. Yours has got more of an induction roar." He informed her.

He showed Kim how to work the dyno and helped her with her first run, very impressed with the workmanship, but more impressed when, even with the heavy chains hanging off the back axle, it still managed to spin up on the drums.

By this time a crowd of people had gathered, so he enlisted their help, cramming people into the car and even got two in the boot for the next run to help with the traction. Kim stood back, finding it all quite comical. Rick showed her how to get the engine set up just right and did another dyno run, amazed at the power output. "Over 820 ponies at the wheels! I'm impressed! That kinda setup should only be producing 800, max! What have you done to it internally?"

Kim reeled off a few bits that she'd done, but Rick still said it shouldn't make that much of a difference. "It musta been when I thrashed it round the freeway on it's first time out." Kim surmised. Rick looked stunned. "You mean this is the first time it's been run, and you thrashed fuck out of it?!"

Kim blushed. "Er… yeah. I had it bouncing off the rev limiter at 220…"

Rick gawped. "You got it to do 220?! What's your redline set at?" He almost demanded.

"10,5k…" Kim replied meekly.

The man nearly fell over. "How the fuck did you not blow this thing to bits?! I've had apex seals disintegrate at 9,5 and you're telling me you held this at 10,5? For how long?"

"I musta had it flat-out for a good 10 miles." Kim admitted.

"Jeeeeeeeeeezus Christ! I gotta sit down…" Rick stated, flopping back into the chair by the dyno computer. He was stunned! She was either lying or she'd built the mother of all rotaries he decided, and judging by the way she'd admitted how she'd abused the motor, he had no doubt she was telling the truth. He was absolutely dumbfounded.

Shego had wandered over to see what all the fuss was about. She saw Kim and Rick over by the dyno and quirked an eyebrow in confusion. 'What's Kimmie doing here? And is that her car?' She thought, before grinning. She was gonna get Kim like Kim got her.

Stalking up behind the redhead without a sound, she was just about to shout 'Boo!' When Kim spun round and got her again, digging her hands in Shego's sides and yelling "BLARGH!" in the older woman's face.

"AAAH!" Shego squealed. "How the fuck did you know I was there, Princess?!" She demanded.

Kim was too busy laughing at her to do more than point at the lights, insinuating it had been the thief's shadow. Shego stood there with her arms folded, another murderous look on her face. "And I bet you wondered why I was short with you on the phone!" She snapped.

Kim recovered enough to reply. "I did actually. But I spose now I got my answer. Sorry, Shego." She apologised honestly.

The green woman merely huffed. "So is this your car then?" She asked, waving in the general direction of the Almighty.

"Yup. That's my baby." Kim said proudly. "820 brake at the wheels. And it only weighs about an imperial ton." Kim reeled off.

Rick piped up from where he was sitting: "That engine should be in about a million pieces all over the highway! I canNOT understand how she got that much power out of it after doing what she did to it!" He stated incredulously.

"And just what did you do to it, Kimmie?" Shego asked, intrigued.

"Er, held it at a 10,500rpm redline for 10 miles on it's first outing…" Kim admitted again.

Shego's mouth formed an 'o'. "He's right. I don't claim to know much about engines, but for that, this thing should be in the scrapyard by now." The thief stated.

Kim laughed nervously. "Anyway, er, I'm gonna unhook this from the rollers and park up."

Shego decided to give her a hand by standing back and watching with her arms folded. "So nice of you to help, Shego." Kim said sarcastically.

"I am helping! I'm not getting in your way!" Shego retorted, slightly offended.

"Huh. Should have expected that from you I spose." Kim replied while unhooking the heavy chains from the back axle.

Just then, Kev called the 15-minute warning and walked out their way to repeat it. "Oh, hey Kim. Bit of a surprise to see you here." He admitted.

"Hey, Kev. Well, I got the car finished today as I'm sure you can see, so I thought it was only fair I come down and show off. I've already turned Rick into a gibbering wreck with the power output." Kim commented while unhooking the various sensors from the engine before reaching inside the cab for the tools to remove the bonnet as well.

Kev looked at her. "Oh?" He asked. Shego saved Kim the hassle. "Basically, that engine shouldn't exist. She had it bouncing off the limiter at over 10,000 revs for 10 miles on it's maiden voyage. And it's putting out 820 ponies at the wheels." Shego reeled off in a bored tone, blowing a loose strand of hair out of her face.

Kev did a double-take. "What the fuck? What engine is it anyway?"

"4-rotor Wankel on carbs." Kim answered, manhandling the bonnet over into a corner.

"That'd explain why it's still in one piece. Thrash these babies from the off and they'll be more powerful, more reliable and last longer than anything else." He explained. "They're like diesels in that respect."

They finished their little chat and everyone made their way about their business, Kev going to get 'the loaner' satnav unit for Kim and Shego went back to her car, making sure her own unit was working properly.

Kev explained to Kim, like he had to Shego, about the rules of the game for noobs. Kim took it all onboard as Kev fitted the unit in the car and explained how it worked.

A few minutes later and everyone was outside. Kim appeared to be the only one running without a bonnet from their crew, but that just meant her car drew the biggest crowd as people stopped to look at the engine and talk amongst themselves about it.

Shortly, one of the race organizers stopped at Kim's door and handed her a USB stick and told her Shego was her partner for the doubles. Something that surprised her as much as the green thief when she had been told.

Kim got out of her car and wandered up to Shego, who looked to be heading for her as well. "You'd better be a fucking good driver Princess, cuz I don't plan on losing cuz you screwed up!" Shego nearly shouted at her.

"Oh that's nice, isn't it? I was just gonna say I was looking forward to racing with you, but if you're gonna be like that, you can fuck right off!" Kim retorted before turning on her heel and storming off back to her car.

Shego felt odd. It took her a minute to place the feeling. 'Embarrassment! That was it! Er… why? Oh right! Yeah! Cuz you just made yourself look a complete twat and offended someone you respect. Doy!' Shego thought to herself. She walked up to Kim's car and sat herself down in the passenger seat, not bothering to wait for an invite she knew wasn't coming.

"Look, I'm… sorry for saying that, Kimmie. I dunno why I did it. I suppose it's cuz I don't know you as a driver and immediately went on the offensive." Shego reasoned.

Kim just sat there, staring forward. She wasn't interested in what Shego had to say. That little outburst had set off a chain reaction that led to the re-emerging of the feeling of being used in Shego's car. "Get out." She ordered in a low voice.

Shego was shocked! She'd just apologised for doing something stupid and was getting it thrown back in her face! This wasn't on. She didn't apologise to just anyone! "Now just wait a second-"

She didn't get to finish before her voice was lost in her throat, behind Kim's hand. The teen, without bothering to turn her head, had clamped her hand round Shego's neck. "I suggest you get out before I decide to get the revenge I promised you I would for what you did to me in your car." Kim said in a deadly calm voice, one Shego had heard her use before on the tweebs. The thief's blood ran cold. While Shego knew Kim was slightly beneath her fighting when she was level-headed, she had no doubt the fiery redhead would tear her limb from limb in her current state of cold rage.

She exited the car as quickly as was humanly possible and practically ran back to her own, strapping herself back in as the other cars started pulling away to meet at the rival crew's lockup. Something about the redhead's current mood chilled her to the bone. She just prayed Kim would come out of it before they were up racing together. It was sprint races tonight, and nobody was going to be watching the route they took back to the lockup.

They arrived there in good time and as the rival crew, they spent a few minutes getting up to speed on the setup.

Kim's first race came up. She was up against a mk1 MR2. Outwardly, aside from paint and rims, the car was standard, but the exhaust note told her that was far from the case underneath. It had the deep rumble and strange-sounding rasp of a V8 cammer that had been heavily tuned. Kim wasn't about to underestimate this car.

The redhead, like Shego, had installed line-locks on the brakes, so proceeded to indulge her exhibitionist side and pulled a monster burnout for the crowd. She was letting her wild side have free reign tonight. Shego's comment had really drawn out Kim's dark side and the redhead was far from done letting it play. The MR2 beside her imitated the burnout, although not as successfully. They were under starter's orders before Kim knew what was happening and she selected the correct track on the satnav.

The starter dropped his hands and the driver in Kim took over completely, channelling the earlier fury into her racing. The tatty Cortina shot off from the line like a coiled spring. The MR2 wasn't far behind, but Kim was giving no quarter, hogging the road as she took the first corner tight, then using the immense power from the home-brew rotary to step the back end out in a wild powerslide, having to oversteer massively to correct it.

She dipped the clutch and the rear wheels hooked up, the back of the car squatted and once again, it fired up the road like a bullet from a gun. The MR2 took the corner a lot smoother and used the momentum to get alongside the redhead until she buried the throttle and the engine screamed as the car surged forward.

Kim took the next corner wide, hoping to cut in at the last moment and use her car's superior power-to-weight ratio to slingshot out of it and put some distance between her and the irritating Toyota.

She didn't get the chance. The other driver was all over her arse like a rash and she couldn't shake him. Kim decided it was time to see just what the engine was capable of. She had noticed a surge in power that came in at around 5,000rpm, so she decided to drive it like she rode her bike, keeping the engine singing in the high revs no matter what.

Once, she had adopted this tactic, the car came alive! It was like some snarling, rabid beast that was hungry for speed! Kim grinned evilly as she threw the car into corners like a toy, the tyres howling in protest at the abuse, the engine screaming like some sort of demoness in ecstasy.

Coming out of a fast right-hander, she stamped on the throttle and the front of the car lifted, the inner front wheel leaving the ground as she slammed home the next gear, taking off down the road and straight into traffic. She saw her gap in the cross traffic and the car practically leapt through it as Kim stamped hard on the loud pedal and stuffed the next gear home. The next corner was a sharp left by a fuel station. The forecourt was practically empty and Kim took her chance, cutting the corner and shooting right through the middle of the pumps, yanking the wheel round hard as the car took off over the kerb.

She landed sideways and Kim was hard on the gas again, travelling the distance to the next corner in a perfect 4-wheel powerslide. She stood on the brakes and whipped the wheel to the right, using the weight transfer to cause the car to oversteer again so she could get a quick glance behind her. She saw the MR2 hadn't used her shortcut as she dipped the clutch and was thrown back in her seat, the LSD working hard to deliver power to both wheels evenly.

The map told her to take the alley in front of her, so she did, having to work the wheel furiously to save from hitting the large dumpsters that were littered everywhere. She hit more than her fair share of loose bin bags and cardboard boxes, sending rubbish flying everywhere, including into the path of the chasing MR2. Something the redhead grinned at.

The redhead shot out of the alley and down the following one, sending rubbish flying everywhere into the street before having to dodge more metal bins and plough through more rubbish, stamping hard on the brakes to make the right-angle left turn back onto regular streets. Kim was on top of the next corner, a very sharp right-hander leading down a narrow side-road, before the MR2 had emerged from the alley and she lifted off the power for a brief instant, whipping the wheel round and yanking on the handbrake to slide the car round, lining it up for the next straight before launching it down the road in a cloud of tyre smoke.

The road curved round to the left and Kim went full bore, pushing the engine as hard as she dared down the narrow road. She could see the glow of green flares up ahead and only one final place to pass. She chanced a glance in her mirror, seeing the MR2's headlights looming closer in her mirror. 'WTF? How'd they get so close so quick?!' Kim pondered, before changing up another gear and pouring on the power. It was going to be close… but not if she could help it.

The cars shot out of the narrow road and Kim could see the V8 MR2 was trying to use her dirty air to pass at the last moment, so she moved to one side, then the other as the Toyota tried to mimic her actions. The redhead was amazed at how the driver had managed to keep up.

It was the final stretch and Kim pushed the car as hard as she dared, the speed shooting up as she went for gear after gear. The distance seemed to extend the faster she went. It was surreal. She urged the car to go faster. She could see the MR2 slowly dropping behind as the speed crept past 170, then she was hard on the brakes. She'd won! She'd won her first race! She did a victory donut before tearing back to the lockup, smoke still pouring from the abused tyres as she headed down the road sideways.

FOOTNOTE: I'm covering Kim and Shego's race next chapter. Cuz otherwise y'all will probably just get bored. And there you have chapter 6. Long-winded I know, but shit happens. Hope you enjoy it.


	7. The ShowDown

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is gonna be a mini-chapter focussing purely on the rest of Kim and Shego's Saturday night. Next chapter, I'm gonna try and focus mainly on Ron and Yori (She finally puts in an appearance) and then… I dunno. I'll see how it goes.

Chapter 7: The ShowDown

Kim rolled back to the lockup and was instantly surrounded by a crowd of people cheering and clapping at her victory. The treasurer wandered over as Kim got out and handed her the race winnings. "Nice driving out there. He's a very tough customer to beat and he's done some work to that engine since last time he was racing. Well done."

Kim, although still in a very dark mood, managed to smile and thank the man, putting the wad of cash in the glove compartment before wandering over to one of the race organisers to see when her next race was. "Next race you're in is the doubles. Bout 5 races' time, roughly half an hour or so. Then it's the singles semi's and you'll be back on again, but you got a while to wait yet." He told her.

"Thanks for the info." Kim replied before walking off to find Shego. The race had calmed her down a bit, although not completely, but it was enough to get her a bit more talkative.

After about 5 minute's searching, she found Shego still waiting for her first race to come up and stalked up to her, some of her anger resurfacing, but she was able to keep a lid on it. Kim put her hand on the older woman's shoulder and spun her round.

Shego was slightly surprised by the act, but more surprised to find Kim on the other end of the hand.

The redhead started talking. "Look, Shego, I just wanna get something straight. I appreciate the effort it took for you to apologise earlier and that's not lost on me. But I hope your driving's as quick as your mouth, bitch."

Kim stalked off in another direction, going to get a better look at the MR2 that had given her such a run for her money.

Shego stood there for a while before what Kim had said reached her brain. "What the fuck? Who does she think she is?!" She thought out loud. 'I'm gonna go and put her straight!' She thought. Then common sense piped up. 'Do you really wanna push her when she's this close to painting the walls with your guts?' It shot at her. 'Yeah, ok, you got me there.' The thief conceded and just fumed silently to herself, deciding she'd let her driving do the talking.

Kim was sitting in her car waiting, knowing her race with Shego and the rival crew was up soon. She jumped slightly when her wing was tapped as she'd been lost in dark thoughts of beating Shego to a pulp.

Firing up the engine, she rolled to the line, sitting slightly to one side of the middle. Shortly, Shego pulled up on one side and the two rival crewmembers on her other a few seconds later. Kim gave the opposition a quick look-over, deciding they were lambs to the slaughter. She looked to her other side, seeing the real opposition. Shego saw her looking and blipped the throttle angrily. Kim replied by making her mk3 Cortina lurch forward before flicking the line-lock on and going for a top-gear burnout, completely smoking the entire grid out with thick, white tyre smoke, giving Shego the finger as the smoke cleared.

The starter, coughing slightly, counted them down. All 4 cars let the revs build as the starter's fingers disappeared. The millisecond he moved his arms, Kim was gone, Shego not too far behind and the opposition were left practically standing. The course was quite a smooth one with only a handful of nasty corners to deal with.

Kim had the upper hand in this race, having the far lighter car. She was pulling away from Shego slowly as they came up to the first corner. It was a sweeping right-hander and Kim went into it full-bore, slamming home the next gear halfway through the corner causing the car to twitch violently, but she was on to of it, pushing harder on the pedal to get the back end to break loose, taking up most of the road as her car went very sideways, blocking Shego's overtaking attempt.

The thief had to stamp hard on the brakes as the rear of Kim's car came round, blocking the outside line she had planned to take and get the best line for the next corner.

Kim grinned as she thwarted Shego's efforts and straightened up, dropping it back down a gear as the tyres hooked up and she was sent down the road at a pace even Shego had to admit was impressive. She too had to drop down a gear to get the best launch out of the corner if she had any chance of catching Kim before the next one.

Kim had lined herself up for the corner, planning to use the drop-kerb section of the pavement to cut the corner, but had to slam on the anchors suddenly as her nemesis filled the space she was about to occupy. She cursed loudly and stamped on the loud pedal, taking the outside line and mounting that kerb instead, shooting back past Shego, her engine screaming like a giant metal banshee.

Shego had seen Kim take the perfect line for the corner and was determined to put her off, so she waited until the last minute before braking, using the handbrake as well to good effect, cutting the redhead up something chronic as she pulled hard on the wheel, causing the inner rear tyre to lose contact with the ground as the car was forced round the corner on a very tight line on the inside of Kim's Cortina. She grinned to herself before gawping in disbelief when Kim shot past her, half on the pavement.

Kim yanked the wheel sharply and dismounted the kerb, proceeding to sit right in the middle of the road, feeding the speed-hungry engine it's next cog and the car surged up the road like electricity through heavy cable. The next corner was a sweeping left-hander that cambered the wrong way, so was quite tricky to navigate. Kim set herself up for it perfectly, briefly stamping on the brakes before feeding the power on in a smooth manner to keep the weight balanced. She was out of the corner as Shego was only halfway round and fighting for control, having gone in far too hot and having to brake late in the corner, throwing the car all over the place.

The thief had been paying too much attention to the redhead's driving and overcooked her entry to the corner. It was only towards the end of the corner she managed to regain complete control, by which time Kim was halfway to the next corner, a full-throttle 3rd gear right-hander. Shego poured on the power, trying to regain some lost ground, to no avail it seemed, as once again, Kim was halfway round the corner by the time she was entering. She cursed, pushing her engine into the redline as she shot round the corner after the foul-tempered heroine.

Kim caught a quick glance of Shego in her mirror and grinned evilly. She was slowly losing the bitchy villain and the opposition from the other crew were long-gone. Hitting the right-hander, she stuck it in 3rd and proceeded to bounce the engine off the limiter all the way round, the car starting to understeer slightly, but she corrected that by letting off a fraction to get the weight back over the front. The car's line was back on track and she sailed round the rest of the corner and down the following short straight and the 'on' ramp to an empty stretch of highway.

Shego exited the corner, having gained a small amount of ground, only to lose it again as she had to brake slightly for the 'on' ramp, whereas Kim had set herself up perfectly to just glide down it without even having to touch her brakes. The green woman saw Kim's rapidly shrinking taillights, but the noise from that monster engine sitting open to the elements wasn't getting any quieter. She could hear it even over the deafening roar of her own V8, which she was currently pushing way beyond her usual racing abuse to try and catch Kim, and not doing a very good job. Something that was driving her round the twist.

Kim opened the Cortina right up as she hit the bottom of the ramp, the car weaving slightly as the suspension compressed and then rebounded, but she never let it phase her for a second, pouring on the power and powershifting, the engine backfiring slightly as it bounced off the limiter briefly between gears. 170, 180, 190, 200, 210, 220, 225… Kim had gained another 5mph as the engine had begun to work-harden, the rotor seals bedding in to the casings and started producing even more power.

Shego was giving the car everything it had got, the rev counter needle further in the redline than she'd ever dared push it and the tatty Ford was still creeping away from her! It was ridiculous! She was in the superior car and was being made a fool of! She used every trick in the book to try and get closer to Kim to no avail. The girl was on fire, and Shego had to admit it, but she wasn't going to accept it! Oh no! Checking the satnav system, she saw the 'off' ramp was fast approaching, and Kim didn't look like she was going to make the turning. Shego grinned and tried making to most of an advantage that wasn't there.

The Almighty shot up the 'off' ramp like a land-bound missile, the rear wheels chirruping on the tarmac as they skipped and slid over the surface, Kim having to stomp on the brakes hard to make the turn at the top. She slid the back round using the power from the engine and surged up the road, the rear tyres billowing smoke, leaving almost a carpet of it along the road before it dispersed.

Shego's face fell like a stone as she saw her advantage disappear in the blink of an eye, Kim disappearing up the ramp and round the corner, black tyre marks being the only testimony to her even having been there. She, too, had to brake hard for the turning, doing the same as Kim and adding to the rubber on the road and the acrid smell of tyre smoke in the air. She could hear the redhead's screaming engine but couldn't see it. There was too much traffic! 'Damn! How did she navigate this fucking traffic?!'

Kim was zipping in and out of traffic as if it wasn't there. All she saw were gaps and imaginary lines through the traffic, so she used them, working the car hard and passing within millimetres of several cars as she threw the ageing Ford through rows of traffic, bouncing up on the kerb on several occasions to get through. Man, her tyres were gonna look a state when she got home! The redhead checked her satnav system briefly. One more corner and she'd won! Shego didn't have a chance!

Shego had lost to Kim and she knew it. There was no way she would be able to pass the redhead with this little of the race left to go. She concentrated on getting through the traffic and finishing the race, second only to spotting that FUCKING IRRITATING REDHEAD!!! In traffic. The final corner was a left-hander into an alley and the finish was halfway down it.

Kim was taking the corner just as Shego spotted her from a distance. The redhead booted the throttle, scattering rubbish everywhere and coming dangerously close to colliding with a dumpster before flying through the finishing flares with a huge grin on her face. She got to the end of the alley and did a 180-degree handbrake turn, waiting for Shego to appear. And she did, after only a few seconds. Kim flicked to high beam, just to be a total bitch, and laughed hysterically as Shego's car swerved from side to side as Shego herself was temporarily blinded by the bright light from 4 HID lamps. Yes, Kim had also invested in stupidly bright headlights as well as god knows what else.

Shego managed to cross the finish line before coming to a stop in the alley, squinting through the light to see just what was giving off the light. It was only when Kim flicked back to dip beam and reversed out of the alley did the penny drop. "Fucking bitch!" Shego yelled at her steering wheel, flooring the throttle and shooting to the end of the alley, looking everywhere for Kim's car.

Everywhere except at the cars parked at the side of the road. Kim had killed the lights and the engine, parking just to one side of the alley opening, knowing Shego would come looking. And when she did, Kim turned her lights back on full beam, blinding the green villainess from the side this time.

Shego was not impressed with Kim's antics and parked her car out of the way of the alley and got out, storming over to Kim's window and thumping on it so hard she nearly cracked the glass.

Kim wound down the window, releasing the sound of manic laughter on Shego. "Yeah, laugh it up, bitch! I coulda crashed!" Shego yelled at her.

Kim sobered up immediately. "That was half the plan." She stated, her face serious.

Shego paused. "What do you mean? You actually wanted me to crash?" She asked, not able to believe this side of the redhead existed.

"To coin a phrase, DOY! That was gonna be part of the revenge for using me in your car. As it goes, I didn't quite succeed, so I'll have to rethink my plans." Kim said offhandedly, as if she plotted this sort of thing all the time.

"What the fuck, Kimmie?! That's just uncalled for!" Shego yelled again.

"Should have listened when I told you to leave the fucking revs alone, then." Kim spat, starting her engine and disappearing down the road, leaving Shego standing by the side of the road.

The thief got back into her car and started it, taking her time getting back to the lockup. It would appear she had a lot of thinking to do if Kim was going as far as plotting hospital trips for her. Shego had obviously underestimated just how deeply that act had affected the redhead and just how well she'd hidden it.

On the trip back, she tried to think of something to make it up to Kim. She had no intention of spending any downtime in the hospital at the hero's hands, or anyone's hands for that matter. Then an idea hit her! 'Hmmm… The girl's got taste and she liked my car… I wonder if letting her use it for her next race would go some way to smoothing things over…' She thought.

Her conscience replied. 'ARE YOU FUCKING CRAZY?!! Think how much time and money you've spent on this car! Do you trust her enough not to smash it to bits just to spite you?!' It screamed. Shego didn't have an answer to that, but it was the only idea she had. She was nervous. Would Kim purposefully trash her pride and joy? She didn't think so. She was a better person than that.

Or so she hoped…

The thief rolled back to the lockup and went through the formalities of collecting her winnings and putting up with the crowd for a minute before going in search of the redhead.

She found Kim sitting on the wing of her car with a laptop in hand, a wire running to a silver box bolted to the inner wing. Shego cleared her throat and Kim made no attempt to show she knew the villain was there. "Er… Kim?"

"Yes, I know you're there, what do you want?" The redhead asked, not looking up from what she was doing, which was resetting the rev limiter another 500rpm higher, just for shits and giggles.

"Um… I was hoping maybe I could do something to try and make it up to you?" Shego offered. She was having a hard time pulling off the smart-mouth, hard-arse act at the moment.

"Like there's anything you could do to make it up to me." Came Kim's snotty reply.

"Would letting you drive my car in your next race help? I figured we could do a quick trade, just for one race." Shego inquired hopefully.

Kim flicked her eyes to Shego's, but her head didn't move. Shego had her attention. "And just what brought this on?" Kim inquired, a slight glint In her eyes at the thought of getting to drive one of her dream cars, even if it was slower than her own.

"I just want things to go back to normal-whatever normal was-between us." Shego stated.

"You sure it's not because you don't want to end up in hospital?" Kim asked mockingly, a slight smirk playing on her features as she finally turned her head in Shego's direction.

Shego shifted uncomfortably under Kim's piercing gaze. "…There is that." She said quietly.

Kim laughed at the green woman. "I suppose that'd go some way to patching things up. I dunno if I want you driving my baby though." Kim said thoughtfully.

"Aw come on, Kim! That's just not fair! I'm going out on a limb here!" Shego exclaimed.

"Listen, you might have the more expensive, rarer car, but I put my own blood, sweat and tears into this thing! I worked my arse off for over a year getting my car exactly how I want it! Everything done to this car, I've done myself. You just threw money and Drakken at yours!" She shot at the older woman.

"That hurts, Kim. You think I didn't wanna do things myself? I don't know one end of a spanner from the other! I don't have the talent you do!" Shego confessed.

Kim pondered that for a moment. Shego had admitted she was mechanically inept and had basically told the redhead she admired her skills. "Yeah, whatever. We'll swap at the next doubles. I wanna see how the engine's gonna react now I've raised the rev limiter." Kim explained.

"You mean you wanna push it even harder?!" Shego asked, dumbfounded at the redhead's seeming insanity. Kim merely grinned and went back to fiddling with the settings on her laptop. Shego just walked away shaking her head in disbelief.

Kim's next race came up and she thrashed the car just as hard as last time, noting the extra 500 revs gave her a top speed of 235, but the car became very skittish and unstable at the higher speed, even with the new front splitter she had subtly installed during the rebuild. She decided to leave it set at 11,000rpm all the same. The benefits it had through the rest of the gears were more than enough compensation. It had meant she could leave the gearchanges later and get further away from the opposition before needing to change up.

The pair's second doubles race came up and they swapped cars, relaying specific quirks to each vehicle, and Kim mentioning that the Almighty had no power steering, something Shego frowned at.

They got strapped in their partner's cars and adjusted the seats to their liking before starting the engines and rolling up to the line, taking note of the bite points and the vastly different power deliveries. Shego's GT500 had lots of low-down and midrange torque with a very peaky top-end power delivery, whereas Kim's Cortina had a very smooth, even power delivery until it hit 5,000rpm where it just took off like a gazelle on steroids all the way to the redline.

They lined up next to the opposition, noting they were going to be trickier than last time as they were in more powerful cars, and they were in cars essentially unknown to them. The starter counted them down and all 4 cars took off from the line at roughly the same time, the opposition getting slightly ahead until Kim and Shego got a bit more settled in the cars and began to push them hard, sitting right on their bumpers looking for an opening.

Kim wasn't used to having to short-shift to make the most of an engine, having been able to leave it in any one gear for what seemed like a lifetime before having to change, and Shego wasn't used to having to ride the revs to get the car to accelerate quickly, being quite stunned as she hit the 5k powerband and was forced back in her seat.

Kim got used to the power delivery quicker than Shego and once again was ahead of the villain, pushing the opposition extra-hard, using the noise of the engine and pure bulk of the heavier vehicle to intimidate them into making a mistake, which eventually they did on a relatively simple corner. One of them overcooked it and went wide, causing the other to have to brake hard to avoid their team mate and Kim grinned, shooting through the gap, Shego changing down a gear and stomping on the gas, shooting through after her as she finally got more used to how to drive the screaming rotary.

She chased Kim down the road, noting how the redhead seemed to be throwing her pride and joy about far better than should be allowed, sailing round quite a dodgy right-hander with the inner front wheel in the air, something she'd never managed while she'd been driving it. "Damn that girl can drive!" She commented out loud, setting herself up for the corner, throwing it in hard, trying to find it's limits and was surprised to find the understeer she had been expecting was non-existent, instead having to correct a small bout of oversteer.

Kim had powered out of the corner hard on the throttle causing the front wheel to rise, powershifting down the straight and round the next corner, Shego not too far behind. 'Come on Shego, you should be walking all over me driving my car!' She thought mentally.

The green thief was having to work hard to keep up with Kim, not feeling completely at home in the Almighty, or was it that she had gotten too used to driving the Shelby and was having trouble adjusting? She was determined not to let Kim get too far ahead and barrelled into the next corner after her, dropping down a gear halfway round and feeding on the power, feeling the car twitch slightly as the tyres fought for grip. She had caught up slightly and held the gear until she heard it hit the limiter, amazed at how long a gear lasted. Shego also noted she'd caught up further to Kim.

Kim saw the thief getting closer, smiling properly for the first time all night. 'About time you figured out how high that thing revs.' She thought. She was approaching the redline of the big V8 herself, but left it to see just how far her nemesis' car would actually go. It was deep in the redline, touching 8,500rpm before the limiter cut in and Kim fed it the next gear in a split second, still hard on the power as the tyres squealed slightly from the huge amount of power being forced through them.

Shego was listening to the sound of her engine as Kim mercilessly hammered her car round the course, noting with every gearchange the redhead let the revs creep higher, finally finding the limiter and the exhausts spat flames before Kim changed up and pulled away slightly. "Go easy on my baby, dammit!" She screamed. Shego had never attempted to find the limiter on her car, deciding she'd rather play it safe. That engine was far from cheap!

She started concentrating more on the engine in the car she was driving, getting used to the sounds it made when it was 'on song'. The thief was getting used to leaving it in gear until just before the limiter cut in, powershifting every time and catching Kim up surprisingly quickly, finally getting close enough that she was sitting on her rear bumper.

Kim noticed that Shego was finally driving her car properly and pushed Shego's all the harder, hardly ever leaving the redline making the massive V8 howl and bark as she worked it hard, drifting round practically every corner as she used the thundering musclecar's bulk to her advantage.

Shego was growing slightly impatient as Kim somehow managed to stay just ahead of her, in her own car! She just needed half a chance and she'd pass the redhead. The chance came on a long straight. Shego nailed the throttle and used Kim's draft to slingshot past her, the Almighty accelerating past 200 quicker than Shego could think. She kept the pedal to the floor as she cracked 225, noting how she really had to fight with the steering to keep it going in a straight line as the car reached it's 235mph top speed, her own Shelby shrinking in the mirror.

Kim grinned. While she didn't like being passed, there was nothing she could do about it. She knew her car went faster, handled better and stopped quicker than what she was driving, but dammit if she wasn't having fun driving this beast! She was actually driving a genuine Shelby GT500!

Shego could see the finish coming up fast. It was at the end of the straight and she was barrelling down it like the bullet from a gun. Kim was getting further behind, but at the speed she was going, it would only be a second or so before she crossed the line behind the villainess.

They shot across the line within a second of each other, braking hard to stop before the corner, their opposition crossing the line a good 5 seconds afterwards. They rolled back to the lockup at a sedate pace, Kim and Shego being surrounded as they pulled up, once again to cheers and clapping from their other crewmembers and the treasurer dealt out the prize money.

Pulling over to one side, the pair swapped car keys back again. "That thing really shifts! How come you didn't mention the powerband at 5k?" Shego asked the redhead.

Kim merely grinned. "It's something you gotta experience for yourself. Words do it no justice. And you need to rev your motor higher. It still feels tight at the top end. You've got a fair bit of untapped power there if you just keep it in the red." Kim informed the thief.

"Yeah, about that, I don't like pushing it that hard. You have no idea how much that motor cost to build, and spares aren't exactly off-the-shelf items." Shego told her in a rather annoyed manner.

Kim shrugged. "You gotta abuse an engine, to a point, to make it last. I learnt that from Kev. It's why I'm not too worried about thrashing the rotary. If it goes bang, it goes bang. If it doesn't, it never will." She stated matter-of-factly.

Shego huffed, folding her arms and rolling her eyes. She didn't like being told how to drive her cars, but on some level, she took the info on board. "Yeah, give up on the snotty attitude, Shego. It's wearing a little thin." Kim shot at her before getting back in her own car, adjusting the seat again, starting it up and pulling a reverse-180 and disappearing over to another part of the parking area, waiting for the singles quarters. Shego didn't even get a chance to think up a suitable reply.

The rest of the night, Kim kept mainly to herself, still giving her brooding dark side free reign. She seemed to drive better when she was angry. She won the rest of her races of the night, much to Shego's annoyance as she was annihilated by the redhead in the doubles every time. Shego, for the most part, mingled with the other racers between her races and, once again, only lost out to Kim in the racing.

Come the end of the night, both of them felt pretty exhausted, Kim moreso than Shego, as she had to fight with a car with no power steering and quite a vicious powerband, and she didn't have the supervillain's extra strength and regenerating abilities.

Kev came up to Kim before she left. Shego, for some reason, hung back at a distance to watch the exchange. "Hey Kim, you were amazing tonight! I've never seen anyone drive so well their first time out!" He exclaimed, causing Kim to blush.

"Er, thanks. It was no big, really." She tried waving it off.

"No big? Seriously, you won practically every race you entered! And not by a small margin either! I just hope you don't decide to disappear on us again. We need good racers like you." Kev commented, slapping Kim's upper arm in a friendly manner. Shego saw this and began to get more than a little envious, something she tried desperately to fight off.

"Now that the car's finished, I'm not about to stop coming, unless I blow it up." She replied with a laugh. "Anyway, I'd better get going. See you next week." She stood on tiptoe and gave the bearded racer a quick kiss before climbing in her car and disappearing home.

Shego stood there shocked into silence. She was planning to tell Kev to leave 'her Kimmie' alone, but was too overcome with jealousy to do more than grind her teeth before getting in her own car and thundering off, leaving Kev to wonder just what had got into the green woman. Still, he didn't let it bother him and drove off home himself.

Kim got in late, like 2am late, and she noted her parents had finally given up waiting for her and gone to bed. They had left a note on the kitchen table telling her she'd better have a very good explanation for staying out. She scowled at the piece of paper, screwed it up and threw it across the room, her foul temper suddenly returning with a vengeance. "Seriously, what the fuck? It's a fucking weekend, I'm 18, and I save the fucking world on a regular basis! Am I not allowed a night off once a fucking week?!" She ranted at the empty room.

The redhead stormed up to her room, punching a hole in the kitchen door on her way. Something else she'd have to explain to her parents in the morning. She stripped and threw herself into bed, once again wearing nothing but her black thong. She was dead to the world in seconds, the same scowl still on her face.

Shego thrashed her car all the way back to the lair, still too overcome with emotions to bother covering it up after she got out. She stormed up to her quarters, punching the button to open the door hard enough to crack it, but thankfully not hard enough to stop it working.

The thief had been muttering curses to herself the whole time, primarily at herself for being jealous of Kev. She had a quick shower before she curled up in bed, still cursing under her breath until she fell asleep.

FOOTNOTE: There you have the not-so-mini-chapter. Next is the YoRon chapter. Well, primarily anyway.


	8. Honourable Intentions

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Firstly, I can't apologise enough for the long delay in getting this chapter out. Those who bothered to read my profile will know my craptop died of death and as such, I lost all my notes and had to start this chapter again primarily from scratch. I just thank whatever deity that's on my side I've got a bloody good memory and spent god knows how long reading and re-reading my notes.

In reply to an anonymous review, I felt I'd explain a few things. Firstly, in regards to the fact I'm not ramming KiGo down people's throats. It's not the way I wanted the story to go. I wanted to show the progression of the relationship, the denial, acceptance, coming out, anticipation, etc. etc.

Not just 'they find they have a connection, something happens, they kiss, BAM! KiGo!' …Just no.

Secondly, about me putting Kim on a Supermoto. I see her as an all-action, no-bullshit type and, in this story, she's got a temper and an attitude problem, thus would love a bike that reflects it. Supermotos do this beautifully, especially 2-strokes.

They're complete animals and are built for just that purpose. There's nothing on them that isn't needed. Pure functionality at it's best. I feel I can say that as I've ridden a wide variety of bikes and found 'motards to be the most fun and the biggest handful on the road if you don't treat them with respect, yet at the same time be more forgiving than any other style of bike you care to mention.

I did think about putting her on a Buell, but see them as being too lazy and laid-back in comparison to the complete batshit insanity of a race-bred 2-stroke Supermoto. She will be getting other bikes in the story, but they'll still be following the theme of being highly respected as headcase machines in the motorcycling world. Think Widowmaker and the first 'proper' litre superbike.

And I'll be honest about the rotaries and say I'm twisting the power figures a bit, but considering the Mazda 787B Le Mans car had about 900bhp on tap naturally aspirated, albeit with variable-length independent throttle bodies (ITB's) with a diameter as big as a small country, I figured a decent home-brew with serious porting on carbs should be able to achieve about 700+.

Steering-wise, imagine somebody's grown attached to the car and migrated to America, taking their pride and joy with them, then having it converted to left-hand drive (It's possible. Seen it done numerous times.) to cope with driving on the other side of the road, then sold it on when keeping it running was too much of a problem, or they got too old to drive it.

Now, on with the insanity!

Chapter 8: Honourable Intentions

Kim woke up the next day to find Ron sitting in her office chair playing Solitaire on her computer. "Ron? What're you doing here?" She asked, somewhat confused.

"Morning KP. Your mum sent me up to wake you up. She said you'd had enough of a lie-in and she wanted you to explain the hole in the kitchen door." He explained, not taking his eyes off the screen.

Kim replayed the previous night's events in her head. "…Oh yeah." She replied simply.

Ron continued, "I was gonna do it, but then I remembered how tetchy you get when somebody wakes you up, so I figured I'd just wait it out." He grinned, finally turning to face her.

The redhead nodded, going to get up before remembering she'd gone to bed topless. Again. "Ron, would you mind getting me a t-shirt?" She asked sweetly. She knew how lazy her friend could be, so had to lay on the charm extra-thick if she had any hope of getting him to shift.

Ron sighed. "Can't you get one yourself?" He whined, unwilling to give up playing the card game on the computer.

Kim growled. "Jesus, Ron! It's not like I'm asking you anything difficult!" She shot at him.

"Come on, Kim. It's not like I've never seen you in your underwear before." The blonde continued trying to avoid having to do anything.

"You think I'd bother asking if I was wearing any?!" She retorted, giving him an evil glare. Ron baulked. "Oh, erm…right, yeah. Err… maybe I…should just wait outside…or something." He stammered, turning red and fidgeting.

The teen hero sighed, rubbing her forehead with one hand while staring at the ceiling. "Just go and sit under the trapdoor if you're that bothered about getting me a fucking t-shirt." She told him, pointing at the hole in the floor. Ron scurried down the stairs and pulled the trapdoor shut over himself.

Kim flipped the bedcovers off and laid there for a minute or so, stretching as she did every morning. She eventually pulled herself out of bed and threw on a baggy t–shirt from the top of the pile in her wardrobe and a pair of tracksuit bottoms she wore for bumming around the house in.

Wandering over to the trapdoor, she flipped it up with a BANG! As it hit the stop. "AAAH! Man, did you have to do that?!" Ron exclaimed as he jumped about a foot in the air. Kim just burst out laughing at him.

"Yup. Come on, I'm hungry." She stated, playfully pushing him into the wall as she went past him down the stairs to the rest of the house, stopping briefly in the bathroom before making her way to the kitchen, eyeballing the sizeable hole in the door as she went through it, but not showing any signs of remorse.

Ron followed her in, whispering a comment to her when he saw his friend looking at the damage. "I was gonna say I was impressed with it, but I don't think your mum woulda been too happy with me." Kim sniggered quietly at that.

She made herself some coffee and sat down at the table, her parents taking advantage of the sitch and sliding along the seat either side of her, effectively hemming her in and cutting off most normal routes of escape. Ron saw this tactic and hurriedly plugged himself into his version of the Kimmunicator and started playing Aerosmith at full volume, standing off to one side to give himself a quick escape should he need one.

After a few minutes of Kim sitting there sipping her coffee, looking for the most part like she didn't know (or rather didn't care) that her parents were there, her father cleared his throat in irritation. "Yes, I know you're there, but I'm doing my best to pretend you're not." Kim said in a clipped tone, not looking up from the coffee in her hands.

Mr. P bristled. "How dare you speak to me like that! I don't know what's gotten into you young lady, but your rudeness just won't be tolerated!"

Kim's hands began to shake in sudden fury and she put her coffee on the table to save spilling it. Somehow, she managed to force her voice into an eerily calm, flat tone. "If you hadn't left me a snotty note about being late home, there wouldn't be a problem." The redhead said slowly, still not turning to look at either of her parents.

Mrs. P could tell instantly that her daughter had been on the verge of launching her cup across the room, so had to diffuse the situation before things turned ugly. "Kimmie, dear, we worry about you. When you didn't get back on time, we thought you might be hurt or worse." She said concernedly.

Kim calmed down a bit, but still was far from happy. "I still don't see why you insist on sticking to this ridiculous curfew! I'm 18, not 8! I save the world on a regular basis along with god knows how many other good deeds around town! I'm pretty sure I can look after myself!" She replied heatedly.

"We set this curfew to teach you some discipline and make sure you get a good night's sleep, otherwise who knows what time you'd be out 'til! We've only got your best interests at heart, Kimmie-cub." Her father explained, still somewhat irritated.

The redhead turned on him. "Yeah, whatever. That excuse works on weeknights, but weekends? That takes the fucking piss and you know it!" She spat.

Mr. P shifted uncomfortably in his seat. She had him there. "OK, I admit the only reason we imposed a curfew at the weekends was more out of habit than anything else…"

Mrs. P jumped in, seeing her husband a bit lost for words under Kim's piercing glare. "Kim, we only do it because we care about you and don't want you getting hurt." She put her hand on Kim's arm.

Kim turned to her. "So I'm not allowed a night off then, just because of your overprotective paranoia? That's bullshit!" The redhead huffed, folding her arms and scowling.

"Now, Kimmie, we never said that. I'm sure we can work something out…" Her father said, partly out of desperation. "How about we drop the curfew on Friday and Saturday nights?" He suggested, causing Kim's head to snap round.

"You'd better not be shitting me." The teen warned. "Cuz I swear if you are, I'll-" Mr. P cut her off hurriedly, eager to avoid setting off his daughter's short fuse. "No, no, no! I wouldn't suggest it if I didn't mean it!"

They finally settled the matter and Kim dragged Ron up to her room to get changed before they went out, her mood completely opposite from 2 minutes ago, having gotten her own way with the stupid curfew her parents had imposed on her since she started the hero business. "So what was it you came over for anyway?" She called through the door of her small walk-in wardrobe as she changed, again.

Ron, playing Solitaire yet again, replied. "Er, yeah… Well, see, I figured as missions are a bit thin on the ground at the moment, I'd…go back to Japan…for a while." He said, a little worried about how Kim would react.

Kim, coming out of her wardrobe, was a bit surprised. "Oh. Right." She said simply. An uncomfortable silence followed…

"I'm gonna miss you, KP!" Ron suddenly burst out, springing up from his seat and attaching himself rather comically around Kim's neck.

Kim nearly fell over backwards, having not expected the sudden addition of Ron's weight. "Hey! Calm down, Ron! Jeez, it's not like you're leaving and never coming back, is it?" She pointed out, giving him a reassuring hug. They separated somewhat awkwardly and Ron sat back down in front of the computer while Kim went to put some footwear on, deciding on a simple pair of army boots to go with the black jeans and t-shirt, the words 'Stop staring and buy me a drink.' Printed in white across the front.

The redhead looked up at Ron while she was doing her laces up. "So what d'you plan on doing over there? Going back to that ninja school, I take it?" She asked curiously.

"Yeah. I wanna go back to Yamanouchi to practice my martial arts and hopefully overcome my clumsiness, and get Yori and Sensei to help me hone my Mystical Monkey Powers. They're still far too raw to be of any real benefit to me at the moment." The blonde replied, a thoughtful look on his face.

Kim sniggered. "Yeah, yeah, that's just your excuse. You just wanna go back to flirt with Yori. Admit it!" She teased, standing up with her arms folded, a smirk on her face.

Ron sighed, slumping slightly in his chair. "Yeah, ok, that's the real reason I wanna go back. I spent all day yesterday coming up with that excuse too, although now that I think about it, I could do with actually rolling with it." He frowned, rubbing his chin with his thumb and index finger.

Kim grinned in triumph. "I knew it! The moment you mentioned Yamanouchi, I knew you were just going back for the talent!" The redhead let out a small laugh and turned round to check her hair in the mirror. She decided to tie it back in a ponytail as the day looked to be rather warm.

Catching a glimpse of Ron in the mirror, she was suddenly overcome with emotion and sighed sadly. "I'm gonna miss you too, Ron. It's gonna be boring round here without you and Rufus to amuse me." She admitted, turning back to her best friend. "Bueno Nacho? My treat. I'll even let you Grande-size it." Kim offered.

Ron's face immediately brightened. "Seriously? You rock, KP!" He exclaimed, punching the air before leaping to his feet and stopping in sudden confusion. "How're we getting there? If you're going on the bike, I'm gonna have to get a lift from my folks." He said, slightly deflated.

Kim rolled her eyes, remembering Ron didn't know she'd finished her car. "I forgot I hadn't told you! We'll be driving down there in my car. I got it finished yesterday." She said proudly. "Come on, it's in the garage." She led the way downstairs and out into the garage, stopping long enough to tell her parents where they were going, more out of habit than anything. She was still slightly annoyed at them from the conflict earlier.

Pulling her keys out of her pocket, Kim pressed a button on her key fob and the garage door started to open automatically. Another of Wade's more subtle inventions. As the light hit the dull paintwork and slightly crusty chrome, Kim couldn't help but smile as she remembered the awesome racing she'd pulled off the previous night, and the fun of putting Shego in her place.

Ron looked the car over as Kim waited for the door to open fully and was suitably unimpressed. "It doesn't look any different from when you drove it last, except for the fact you've forgotten to put the bonnet back on." He commented, folding his arms.

The teen hero, once again, rolled her eyes. "Just get in, doofus." She instructed him, indicating the passenger door while walking round to the driver's door and getting in herself, strapping herself in as she had done so many times the previous night. Ron got in the car, tripping on the rollcage as he did so and landing in the passenger seat in a heap.

Grumbling, he straightened himself out and eventually worked out how to strap himself in, much to Kim's silent amusement. "So aside from a trip hazard and some fancy seats, what else have you done to it?" He inquired, somewhat bitterly as he looked at the support bar behind the passenger door in disgust. "Oh, this and that." She waved her hand dismissively and turned the key, prodding the throttle and grinning as the engine fired, causing Ron to jump out of his skin.

"Jesus, Kim! How loud d'you want this thing?!" He yelled over the engine noise reverberating around the garage. "Could do with being a bit louder!" She yelled back, still grinning like a Cheshire cat.

The redhead pushed the choke in after a few moments and the engine noise dropped to a dull roar. "So what did you do with the bonnet then?" Ron asked curiously.

"I left it at the gang's lockup last night. I forgot to go back and collect it after I was done racing." She admitted.

Ron nodded, leaning forward and peering into the engine bay, noting the beefy strut brace and immaculate engine. "So just what kind of monster have you created, KP?" He asked, somewhat fearful of the answer. His unease grew tenfold as he saw the manic grin Kim now wore.

"You're about to find out." She stated simply, rolling out of the garage and pulling up outside a little too sedately for Ron's liking.

Kim pushed the button on her key fob once again to close the garage door and turned to her blonde best friend. "Are you ready for the quickest trip to Bueno Nacho you've ever had in your life?" She inquired in a rather sinister tone.

Ron went rather pale. "Er… would it make a difference if I said no?" he asked feebly. "Nope." Was Kim's reply as she buried the throttle and dropped the clutch at the same time, the rear wheels lighting up and trying to overtake the front as the car shot off down the road sideways, smoke pouring out of the rear arches.

Kim thrashed the car mercilessly on her way to the fast food restaurant and Ron spent the entire journey alternating between grabbing the door handle, seat and dashboard for dear life, scared out of his wits at his best friend's insane driving.

They arrive outside the restaurant going very sideways, Kim pulling a tidy 180-degree handbrake turn and slotting it neatly in a parking space. The whole restaurant stare open-mouthed out the window at the display and begin frantically talking amongst themselves when they see who it is getting out of the driver's door. They couldn't tell who was inside due to Kim having fitted tinted windows. Hey, girl's gotta have –some- bling.

Ron manages to crawl out of the car looking extremely pale and weak, shaking like a leaf. Kim helps him up and they make their way inside, the poor blonde staggering like an old man. They reach the checkout and Kim had to order for Ron as he appeared to have lost his voice, possibly due to screaming in abject terror all the way there, although his voice went completely unheard over the engine and tyres.

On making her way over to their usual seat, the redhead found it was occupied by a group of boys she recognised from the year below her. They soon moved as she gave them a look that would've had even Shego wincing.

She set their trays on the table, having to carry Ron's as he was still suffering from the trip there, and slid along one of the seats, Ron clumsily doing the same on the other side. Rufus, smelling the cheesy goodness of Ron's meal, poked his head out and scurried up onto the table, chittering noisily in delight and shovelling a few nachos in his mouth before stopping, wondering why his master wasn't doing the same.

The molerat turned to Kim. "'Sup Ron?" He squeaked. "I think I overdid it on the way here. He's been like that since we arrived. You might have to help him get started…" Kim informed the rodent apologetically. "Oy!" Was all he said in response, grabbing a particularly cheesy nacho and scurrying up onto Ron's shoulder and force-feeding the dazed blonde.

It only took a few nachos and Ron had recovered enough to feed himself, finally returning to his usual, jovial self. "Have you always driven like that?" He asked through a mouthful of naco, fixing the redhead with a glare of his own. "I thought I was gonna die!"

Kim finished what she was eating before replying. Unlike Ron, she chose not to speak with her mouth full. "Well doy! Didn't you notice it before I took the Almighty off the road?" She asked indignantly.

"I didn't actually. In case you hadn't noticed, it's been a while since you've been driving it, and it didn't accelerate like a rocket last time!" Ron shot back.

Kim had to concede that point and changed the subject. "So, when are you leaving anyway?" She probed.

"Tomorrow morning. I gotta get to the airport for 7am, meaning I gotta get up at 5:30." He answered with a groan. "Too early!" Complained Rufus through a mouthful of Taco. "I hear ya, buddy!" Ron agreed.

The redhead laughed. After all the years they'd been doing the hero thing, Ron still couldn't cope with early mornings. She wasn't overly fond of them herself, but never went to some of the lengths Ron did to avoid getting up. Ron continued. "I've already cleared it with school. Barkin wanted to give me a month's worth of afterschool detentions when I get back! I swear he's got it in for me!"

The redhead laughed. "I say you're being paranoid. He's always been alright to me." She responded.

Ron snorted. "Yeah, to YOU he's ok. Couldn't risk picking on the school's world-famous student, but the sidekick's fair game. Nobody notices me long enough to even remember my name!" He whined.

Kim put down the naco she was eating for a moment. "Trust me, Ron. You do NOT want some of the attention I get. I created an MSN account once so I could try and make life easier arranging cheer practice and the odd night out. Big mistake. Within about a week, I had all sorts of weirdoes adding me! Dirty old men wondering if I offered 'other' services, thousands and thousands of fans from god knows where, not to mention people who just wanted to hurl abuse my way. Then there's the media. I've had to get Wade to remove my home address and telephone number from pretty much all major records to stop them turning up at my door and turning my life into some kind of sick reality TV show. He's got an entire computer set up just to monitor all incoming calls and emails in case it's the press. It's ridiculous! And GJ… Well, let's just say they don't take kindly to their agents, even freelance, being hassled by the media."

The blonde sat there for a moment, stunned. "Wow, Kim! I never realised…" He said apologetically.

Kim picked her naco back up. "No. Nobody does." She finished bitterly. They spent the rest of their meal in relative silence and Kim dropped Ron home, driving a little more sedately now that he'd eaten, not wanting to have to clean half-digested Bueno Nacho off her interior.

"Hey, d'you want a lift to the airport tomorrow, Ron? You'd be able to get another hour or so in bed." Kim offered as Ron was getting out.

He stiffened unnoticeably. "Er- no thanks, Kim. I've already got a lift sorted out. My dad's taking me." He said hurriedly, missing the slightly hurt look on Kim's face as he got out. "Oh. Ok. Er, I spose I'll see you when you get back then." Kim replied, feeling slightly offended he didn't want her help.

Ron turned back as he shut the door, leaning through the window slightly. "Yeah. I'll give you a ring when I arrive and stuff, let you know I'm ok if you like?" He offered, smiling.

Kim only half-heartedly returned the smile. "Yeah, Ron. That'd be great. I… I'll see you later, then." It was beginning to sink in that Ron wouldn't be around for a while. She'd be driving to school by herself tomorrow, not to mention going through lessons without the familiar laugh and bumbling idiocy to make her smile.

Sure, she still had Monique to hang about with, but the chocolate-skinned fashion designer was only in a handful of her lessons and she didn't really have any other close friends to sit with in the others. Even with Ron shadowing her, she'd always been a bit of a loner, wanted to do everything her own way, hardly ever accepting help from anyone else. It drove people away slightly, she realised. _'Everyone except Shego.' _The voice suddenly piped up. 'Will you just. Fuck! OFF!!' She yelled in her mind.

She didn't quite catch Ron saying goodbye, but on coming back to reality, noticed he wasn't there. She growled angrily and took off down the road at warp speed, the sudden interrupting of the voice putting her in yet another foul mood. The redhead decided to waste some time and go for a ride. Where, she didn't care. She just had the urge to ride.

Pulling up at home, Kim parked the Almighty and wheeled her Gas Gas out, shooting inside and pulling her leather jacket on, grabbing her helmet and bag containing 2-stroke oil and the measuring cylinder and heading out again. She fired it up, waited for the engine to warm up and was gone.

-----------------------------

Ron walked through the door and headed up to his room to pack. He'd bought an ex-military Burgan for the trip, remembering the near-death experience of the last trip where it had been 'his honour' to carry his belongings up the mountain.

The blonde packed light, taking only the bare essentials, including some 'serious snackage' for his stay. He could almost see the sly smile the old lady had been wearing as she repeatedly snatched the food tray out of his reach quicker than he could react. He had relied mainly on Yori to get it for him, having never managed to get quick enough to procure anything.

On finishing, he turned to Rufus, who had emerged from his pocket a while earlier to watch the goings-on. "Well buddy, that's it. We're all packed and ready to go." He sighed, dropping down onto his bed and going over the checklist he'd made, just to be sure he'd packed everything.

On satisfying himself everything was packed, he hauled the bag onto his shoulder and headed downstairs, dropping it just inside the living room door and throwing himself on the sofa, flicking on the TV. He channel-surfed for a while before finding a zombie movie and switching off to everything else, not that his parents paid him any mind.

10:30 rolled around and his mother finally paid him some attention. "Ron, it's half past ten. Hadn't you better go to bed?" She asked, not really interested in an answer.

"Yeah, I'll head up in a minute." He replied, not taking his eyes off the screen. His mum made a noise to show she'd heard and disappeared again. The blonde slowly dragged himself upright and got up, stretching slightly from having been lying down for so long. He turned off the TV and headed upstairs for a shower, climbed into bed and fell asleep after a few minutes.

The next morning, Ron's alarm took a while to penetrate the heavy layer of unconsciousness that he was in. He finally cracked a bleary eye open to try and find out what that god-awful noise was. "Eeeurghhh!" He grunted, poking an arm out from underneath the covers and punching the clock, silencing it and started mumbling about ungodly hours to be awake at.

After a few minutes, he finally dragged himself out of bed, pulling on the clothes he'd laid out the night before, picking Rufus up and sliding him into one of the pockets before stumbling downstairs and into the kitchen. He'd decided to get into the feel of the trip beforehand by picking a pair of black jeans and a plain black long-sleeved t-shirt, finishing it off with a pair of black and camouflage Etnies skating trainers. The blonde noted his father was already up, but the fact took a while to register. He headed for the coffee machine and poured himself a large mug of black coffee, stirring 3 sugars into it.

"All set for the big trip then, son?" His father inquired jovially. Ron grunted in response and sat down at the table.

After a long slurp of coffee, he managed to string together a coherent sentence. "Totally. This trip's gonna be bon-diggity!" His father merely put on a thin smile to show he'd heard and busied himself with other things. The two males spent the rest of the time before leaving in silence, Ron making himself an overly large breakfast and his father standing looking out of the kitchen window, drinking his own cup of coffee.

On leaving, Ron picks up his Burgan and follows his father out the door. Mr. Stoppable remains silent and settles himself in the car, leaving Ron to stow his luggage in the boot. They set off and, as usual when they drove anywhere together, were dead silent. The blonde began along the same train of thought as he'd been down countless times before. 'Why can't they be more like Kim's parents? Why can't they take an interest in what I do just once? The only time they bother doing anything for me is to get me out the house! Am I really that bad a son?'

He sat staring out the window, going over those thoughts in his head, getting more and more depressed as the silent journey continued.

Pulling up at the airport, Ron's father popped the boot and Ron got out, not even bothering with a goodbye as he knew the older man wouldn't be bothered by it, and his parents as a pair didn't really care how long he was going for. The blonde pulled his Burgan out, slung it on his back and slammed the boot, his father pulling away pretty much the second it was closed.

The sidekick ambled into the airport and into the toilets. Rufus clambered out of his pocket, finally awake. "Come on, buddy. They don't like pets on the plane, so you're gonna have to hide." The molerat stretched and nodded, climbing into the opening Ron was offering.

Having nowhere else to put him, Ron had worn 2 pairs of underwear and had hidden Rufus in the outer pair, causing a not unnoticeable bulge in a rather embarrassing area. Heading over to check in, the girl at the desk had noticed it and grinned at him suggestively. Ron felt the heat rising in his face and lost all ability for coherent speech, stuttering and stammering through the process and causing the girl to giggle furiously.

Eventually seated on the plane, Ron sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Man, that coulda gone a lot better than it did…" He grumbled to no-one. Checking there was nobody about, he unzipped his fly and let Rufus out. "Sorry about keepin' you in there, Rufus. Didn't have much of a choice in the matter."

The naked mammal scurried out and gave Ron a thumb's up. "S'ok!" He twittered before diving down the pocket on the back of the seat in front, throwing out the laminated safety leaflet and going to sleep again. Ron followed his miniature friend's lead and was soon catching a few more zeds of his own before landing in Japan.

He woke with a bit of a start as the hostess announced they would be landing shortly and to fasten their seatbelts. Poking the lump in the pocket that was Rufus, Ron leaned forward and spoke quietly. "Sorry buddy, but you gotta hide again. We're gonna be in Japan soon."

The buck-toothed rodent poked his head out and rubbed his eyes. "Aww! So soon?" Ron nodded, so he crawled out of the pocket and jumped onto Ron's lap, disappearing into his trousers once again. Ron zipped himself up and got ready to get off the plane. He looked out of the window briefly and saw it was early evening over Japan. The sun had started it's descent and the shadows of buildings and other large structures were lengthening.

After a few minutes, the plane landed and taxied down the runway, stopping not far from the main pedestrian entrance to the airport. The docking tunnel extended and the passengers made their way off. Ron's trip through customs went largely unhindered, the only problem being Rufus snoring which caused a few passengers to look around confusedly. He quickly made a play of looking as confused as the others, but shoved his hand in one of his pockets and prodded the molerat. Thankfully, he woke up and remembered where he was, so went quiet immediately.

The blonde walked out of the airport, Burgan on his back, and made his way to the pickup point, which was some 200 yards away from the airport down a quiet road that led into the countryside.

He dropped his Burgan on the floor and set it up against a nearby lamppost, letting Rufus out of his hiding place before he sat down on it. He leaned against the metal pole and sighed, taking note of how peaceful and quiet it was. "Well, we're finally here, buddy." Ron said to his naked friend. Rufus stretched and nodded, chittering happily and scurrying around the immediate vicinity, glad to be able to let off some energy.

Out of nowhere, a ninja sporting the Yamanouchi insignia on his otherwise black uniform appeared and handed the blonde a note, disappearing again just as quickly. "Aaah!" Ron shrieked, having not expected it.

After recovering somewhat, he opened the note and began to read:

_Stoppable-san,_

_It is our honour to welcome you once again to Yamanouchi._

_We will be with you shortly, however we have also taken the opportunity to use your arrival as a training exercise in stealth, teamwork and attack for some of our more promising students. _

_Please do not be alarmed. _

_They will be coming at you with non-lethal weapons and will not harm you._

_Sensei._

On finishing reading the note, Ron looked up and noticed the quiet setting in which he was, was actually far from quiet. He was suddenly very alert and could hear the noise of the traffic from the junction at the end of the road, the gentle breeze rustling the long grass in a field not far from where he was, the birds chirping in the trees around the area and the sound of his own heart and breathing.

Before he had chance to blink, he was surrounded by at least 15 young ninjas all pointing wooden weaponry at him. The sidekick screamed in surprise and toppled backwards off his Burgan, landing in a heap on the floor.

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Kim woke with a start on Monday morning, her alarm coming a little unexpected. The redhead swore loudly at the timepiece before hitting it, once again in such a manner that would have had most regular clocks shattering into countless pieces of plastic and circuitry. "Godforsaken poxy fucking alarms! Fucking things should be banned!" She grumbled to herself heatedly, before remembering what day it was. "Oh goody. School." The hero groaned. Then remembered her car. "Oh goody! School!" She repeated in an almost exuberant tone as she jumped out of bed.

Dressing in the same clothes she'd worn the previous day out of laziness and carelessness, albeit with the addition of her leather jacket and the New Rock boots, she bounced downstairs and into the kitchen, smiling and singing Get Rhythm by Ry Cooder to herself.

Both her parents looked at one another, confused. Their daughter was –never- this chirpy on a Monday morning… Mrs. P spoke up. "Kimmie, why are you so happy this morning?" She asked, slightly afraid of the answer she'd get.

"Hmm? Oh, I'm just looking forward to showing off my car at school this morning. It'll be fun making a few of the other students jealous." The redhead replied, smirking. She went back to making her tea and singing, tapping a boot along with the rhythm in her head.

Mrs. P looked at her husband, who merely shrugged. 'Well, I suppose it's about the best we could hope for.' She thought to herself, relieved it wasn't something more extreme, like boys…

Kim finished her breakfast in record time and grabbed her schoolbag, practically bounding out to the garage. "See you later!" She called to her parents, who waved. Hitting the button on her fob, she jumped into the Almighty and started it up, the familiar thrill she got every time she heard the deafening roar once again running down her spine. 'Oh god, I hope that never wears off!' The heroine thought happily.

Once the garage door was up and she'd let the engine warm up for a while, Kim reversed quickly out of the garage and pulled a reverse-180 on the drive, slamming home first gear and screaming off down the road, the garage door not even halfway down before the tatty green Cortina was out of sight.

Kim took the long way to school, knowing she'd pass the school bus on her way and give the less fortunate students something to talk about when they got off the bus and saw it parked in the carpark.

She arrived at school and entered the carpark going very sideways, engine screaming and backfiring as the redhead feathered the throttle to stop the oversteer going too far. The redhead pulled up sharply behind Bonnie, who was making a bad job of pulling into a space. Deciding to have a little fun, she revved the engine menacingly, huge flames shooting out of the exhaust before making the car lurch violently. The brunette in the other car panicked and stalled, causing Kim to snigger uncontrollably.

A few students had begun to gather as they saw Kim's entrance, although nobody could remember her car as it had been god knows how long since they'd seen it, and with the wider wheels, tinted windows, lack of bonnet, offensive exhaust note and lowered, aggressive stance, it was almost unrecognisable, as was the driver through the dark windows.

Bonnie flung open her door as Kim started winding down her window and stormed over before she stopped dead in her tracks as Kim poked her head out the window. "YOU!!!" Was all the brunette could manage through the sudden fury that overcame her.

Kim just grinned. "Yeah, me. I finally got a better car than you, so get that piece of plastic shite outta my way! I'm trying to find somewhere to park!" She retorted, blipping the throttle again to emphasise the point.

Bonnie growled in a very feral manner and stormed back to her car, slamming the door. She restarted the engine and began reversing towards Kim. The redhead was quicker and was backing away, laughing as she did so. Bonnie sped up, trying to ram the redhead's ride, but Kim's car was too quick. The fiery teen shot out of the carpark and pulled another reverse-180, stopping just in time to see Bonnie, an incredulous look on her face, slam right into a tree.

Kim, and quite a few other students, burst out laughing and gave the blushing, irate brunette a big round of applause, some even cheering and whistling in appreciation. "Nice to see your driving's as bad as your temper!" Kim yelled at her before burning back into the carpark and nicking the now empty space Bonnie had been making such a big deal of parking in.

Getting out, she noticed her car was drawing quite a crowd, albeit they backed away slightly as they saw who was getting out. They were chatting frantically over the lack of bonnet and what they reckoned the engine was.

Still being somewhat paranoid about her vehicles, and not wanting the hassle of having to answer umpteen questions about the car, she pulled an A4 notepad out of her bag, scribbled some brief specifications on it, along with a note in large letters reading, 'Touch my baby and I'll break your legs' and slid it under a windscreen wiper before sauntering off to class, still smirking at the mess Bonnie had made of her 'flash convertible'.

Ron, having drawn his arms up over his face and closed his eyes, heard familiar soft laughing. "Oh Ron-san. You and your American humour. That was very good acting for the benefit of my fellow students." Yori stood over him, smiling.

"Oh, heh, err…yeah. Acting. Well, you know, I thought I'd give them a proper reaction to the attack, let them know what they could expect." He rambled hurriedly, impressing himself with what he'd come up with excuse-wise on the spot. He scrambled to his feet and Rufus scurried up his clothes and perched on his shoulder, waving enthusiastically at Yori. "Hi!" He squeaked cheerfully.

Yori smiled affectionately at the naked rodent and patted him gently. "Rufus-san. A pleasure to meet you once again." The female ninja greeted him happily.

Sensei glided over to them in his usual ethereal manner. "Stoppable-san. It is our honour that you have chosen to return to Yamanouchi for training. I do hope that our little field exercise was in no way disrespectful towards you, but it is not often we get such situations occurring, and we try to make the most of them." The old ninja replied, bowing.

Ron looked slightly confused. "Hey, no big, Sensei. You know me. Always willing to help out where I can." The blonde smiled, bowing as well.

"I see you have packed light, Stoppable-san. A most wise tactic for survival." Sensei stated, not knowing the majority of what he had packed was junkfood and a large packet of condoms.

Ron chuckled nervously. "Eheh… yeah. Well, you know, I like to think ahead a bit, just in case." He rambled, rubbing the back of his neck and looking anywhere but into the eyes of the two well-trained ninjas in front of him.

They looked suspicious for a fraction of a second, but put it down as just one of Ron's more unusual quirks. The first time they had met him, he had hardly been the world's most normal person, being shady, nervous and jumpy then, but with an honest heart.

"I think it is time to go back to Yamanouchi, Sensei. I am sure Ron-san will be tired from the journey here and want to get settled in." Yori suggested, giving Ron an even more suggestive look before turning to the other students who had fallen into a line, all standing rigidly to attention. She almost whispered some orders to them in Japanese and in the blink of an eye, they had vanished.

"Hmmm. Yes, very good, Yori. I believe I was getting a bit carried away with myself. It has been a while since I have been out on a training exercise such as this. Stoppable-san, if you are ready, there is a, what you call, cab, waiting for you over there. Yori will meet you at the base of the mountain. The walk can be somewhat treacherous for those not used to it in the dark." Sensei informed the blonde, turning to Yori, who nodded.

"Hmm? What? Oh! Yeah. Right. Gotcha. See you later." The sidekick caught up with the conversation in record time, having previously gone into a bit of a stupor after the look Yori had given him, and had proceeded to stare not all that subtly at the oriental girl's physique until that moment, something that wasn't lost on her. However, she didn't make it obvious she knew, deciding to hold onto the information for later.

He grabbed his Burgan and headed over to the waiting taxi after Sensei and Yori had disappeared after bowing. Climbing in, he noticed the windows were all blanked off from the outside and he couldn't see through to the driver's compartment. 'Hmmm, still don't want me knowing where they are…' He reasoned to himself.

The car pulled off, taking a roundabout route to the base of the mountain to completely throw off any sort of mental tracking attempts Ron might have tried to make, arriving at the base of the mountain an undetermined time later.

Ron climbed out and the car pulled away as soon as the door was shut. Yori was, as expected, waiting for him at the base of the mountain, although she was wearing something a little more form-fitting than previously, along with a rather sly smile. "Ron-san. It has been too long since you visited last." She stated, as if it was well-known fact before pulling him into a quick, but tight, embrace.

Ron was at a loss for words. Yori had never acted so forward the last time he had stayed. A shade overly friendly, yes, but not flirtatious… Not that he was complaining, he quickly added to that. He managed to return the embrace, although in a rather lame manner that caused Yori to giggle inwardly. "Uh, yeah. S-sorry about that." He apologised rather distractedly. He was too busy getting a little high on Yori's scent… 'I do hope she's not a cocktease.' The bumbling sidekick thought to himself.

They broke apart and Ron cleared his throat awkwardly. He felt slightly nervous as the realisation of what he wanted to do sunk in. He had to try and work up the nerve to 1) Ask Yori out and 2) try and seduce her into bed… 'Oh god… Am I gonna be able to do this?' He wondered inwardly.

Yori, on the other hand, felt completely at ease. She found Ron's nervous shyness quite endearing. She knew he fancied her and knew he was nervous because he hadn't got a clue how to tell her. Fortunately for him, the curvaceous ninja had been working on a plan of action of her own… She grinned to herself. "Please, allow me to lead you up the mountain." With that, she turned and proceeded up the winding path to the entrance of the school.

By the time they arrived it was dark, Ron not nearly as breathless as the first time, and Yori showed Ron to his quarters. "Here is your room, Ron-san. It is next to mine as I thought you would appreciate being close to someone you know, should you need my… services for any reason." She informed him with a playful smirk, bowing to him enough to give him a good view down her top before turning and sauntering to her own room.

Ron stood there dumbstruck, jaw hanging wide open and eyes bulging. 'Man, Yori's coming onto me. She must be! I could see right down her top! And what did she mean by her services?' He puzzled silently to himself, a confused look creeping onto his features.

He was interrupted from his musings by Yori again. "Goodnight, Ron-san. Sleep well. It is an early start tomorrow." The black-haired beauty informed him before disappearing into her own room as silently as a breath of wind.

Ron shook himself out of his stupor and entered his own room, once again the sense of being slightly exposed due to the paper doors and thin walls creeping over him. He ignored it and got settled in, dropping his Burgan in a corner and unpacking a few 'essentials' in the form of a flat-pack bed for Rufus and some food for the morning.

His room had been furnished in the typical 'less is more' Japanese fashion with a small bedside cabinet, which Ron humorously thought looked more like a sturdy cardboard box turned on it's side, a small chest of drawers which contained the gis they had allocated him and a lamp, not to mention the bed.

"Rufus buddy, time to hit the sack." He informed the rodent, who had chosen to invade one of the side pockets of Ron's Burgan halfway up the mountain. He unzipped the pocket and lifted the dozing mole out, laying him on his miniature bed before stripping to his underwear and falling onto bed himself, the weather a little too warm to bother pulling the covers over himself. Within a few minutes, he was snoring lightly, completely dead to the world.

Yori, in the next room, had also stripped off, although a little more than Ron, preferring to sleep in the nude. She was thinking of the boy in the next room and what he would do if he could see her now, standing naked in her room with a predatory grin plastered on her face… She thought of sneaking into his room and surprising him. 'No! I must wait. I must bide my time. I must wait for Ron-san to become at ease with being back at Yamanouchi, and I must not distract him from his training. That would be most dishonourable! He has come here seeking our guidance, not the pleasures of the flesh.'

With the matter settled in her mind, she crawled into bed and went to sleep herself, the same grin on her face as she dreamt of all the things she was going to do to the blonde American.

The morning came all too quickly for Ron, who almost jumped out of his skin when the school's gong sounded, signalling the start of the day. Once again, by the time he was dressed and ready, the morning's lesson had already started and he was late. "Aw, man! Seriously! I'd been working on my morning routine for a month!" He groaned, falling into line somewhere near the back and picking up the routine they were going through.

Yori was standing at the front, leading the routine. Since Ron had last visited, she had progressed with her ninja training far enough to instruct the more basic moves. She had not yet mastered the more technical moves herself to a degree where Sensei was willing to let her teach those as well. Still, she was happy to be giving something back to the school, so didn't complain.

Ron caught her eye and she couldn't help but grin, seeing as how the blonde had once again managed to get himself muddled in the moves.

Lunch time rolled around and, as usual, Ron missed his chance of food, the lunch lady being too quick for him. "Ah, Stoppable-san. Please, join me for lunch. I wish to discuss something with you." Sensei called to him from across the training grounds.

Ron walked over. "Well, I'd join you for lunch if I could get any. I'm still way too slow for the lunch lady…" He complained, hanging his shoulders dejectedly.

"Do not be so downhearted, Stoppable-san. It will come in time, although what I have to tell you may aid you. Follow me…" The ageing ninja led Ron to a quiet area of one of the gardens, the few students in the area getting up and bowing to him before moving out of earshot. They sat down on a bench at the end of a stone path underneath a well-kept willow tree.

"What I have to tell you concerns your ability to perform Tai Shin Pek Kwar. I realise you have returned to better yourself and hopefully master your ability, but you cannot do that unless your head is clear and focused. I sense you are not at ease with yourself. There is a turmoil in your heart. While it is none of my business as to what this may be, I do suggest you either push it to one side, or confront it if you are able, to help you find an inner peace. Until you do, you cannot hope to control the Mystical Monkey Powers you have been blessed with." Sensei's words were profound and caused Ron to really think about Yori and how he should go about his problem, so he didn't notice when the old man got up and disappeared off to another part of the school.

He found Yori on her way to where he had been sitting with Ron. "Yori-san, please follow me." The young ninja nodded and did as she was bade, albeit slightly confused. They stopped off to one side, again in another relatively quiet spot in the open area of the school.

"What is it you wish to talk about, Sensei?" Yori inquired curiously.

The old man sighed. "I am slightly concerned about Stoppable-san. He came to us for help, but the help he needs is something that he has to find within himself. I have noticed he has grown more unsettled through the course of the morning. While I do not know the cause, I have my suspicions, which is why I am telling _you_, Yori-san." Sensei looked pointedly at her, causing Yori to blush somewhat.

"While I have known for some time your feelings toward our guest, indeed, you do not spend a great deal of effort hiding it, I cannot tell if he feels the same for you, and I hope you will not dishonour yourself if he doesn't. As his friend, I am hoping you can help him find his inner peace. I foresee a great deal riding on how well Stoppable-san can master his abilities and, indeed, the other skills we teach here." The old man finished his little speech and, again, disappeared to another part of the school, leaving Yori deep in thought.

For the next few days, Ron managed, for the most part, to push aside any thoughts of Yori and concentrate on his training, actually making a suitable amount of progress. He also managed to be up and dressed in time for the morning's session and even managed to get some food from the head lunch lady a few times. Rufus was, himself, getting very good at the classes as well, progressing slightly quicker than Ron as he didn't have to push certain... urges to the side.

Yori, for her part, watched Ron from a distance, thinking over Sensei's words and biding her time to implement the plan she had spent so long going over in her head.

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As Ron's stay at Yamanouchi progressed, the other students began slowly taking notice of him. Before, he had been more of an irritation to them, an outsider, a joke. But now, as his progress improved more and more rapidly, they began to see him as more of an equal. He had learned Japanese from Yori and Sensei had started him on the assault courses that the resident 'geek gurus', as Ron had dubbed them, planned for the more able students. Unfortunately for him, his nickname for them did not sit well and his courses became harder and more prone to end with him being extricated from them about halfway through after becoming entangled in the more mechanical obstacles or knocked unconscious after misjudging some of the more acrobatic sections.

Sensei, after witnessing the blonde American fail a particularly brutal course, much to the amusement of a small gathering of students, pulled the tight-knit group of sniggering technicians to one side. "After having been master of Yamanouchi for many years, I thought I had seen the end of the dishonourable behaviour you have been displaying! As highly-accomplished Yamanouchi ninjas, I expected you to have risen above such childish behaviour! Bullying has no place in my school! Stoppable-san has come to us for help and it is our honour, our HONOUR to help him! Need I remind you of the selfless act he performed on behalf of this school, rescuing both Yori and the Lotus Blade from Monkey Fist? We owe him much in return for this, and this is how you repay him? I am saddened and disgusted that some of my most promising students have the audacity to display such behaviour under my very nose! You are to apologise to Stoppable-san at once and, as punishment, you must all complete the course you have set out yourselves, in front of the whole school." The old man ended his ranting in Japanese, looking daggers at the five students stood before him.

On hearing their punishment, the Yamanouchi technicians visibly cringed, but not one of them dared argue with him. They bowed in unison before muttering their apologies. "We are very sorry, Sensei. We have acted most dishonourably. We will do as you say." The head of the small group offered, again in Japanese.

The now non-bumbling sidekick was laying in the school's infirmary after having been patched up and instructed to rest for the remainder of the morning, Rufus dozing on the windowsill behind the bed, enjoying the warm sunshine. Ron didn't notice the 5 ninjas shuffling in until they had gathered around the bottom of his bed. "Oh! Hey geek gurus, how's it hangin'? Pretty mean assault course you set up there. I'd bow, but I've been told not to move too much." He rambled, somewhat ashamed at having not managed to complete the course. He was completely oblivious to the fact that nobody else had been getting them anywhere near as hard. He'd always been practising some of the moves he had trouble with, or busy with another class to watch someone go through an assault course.

The head of the group, who's name was Shinjuko, stepped forward. "Stoppable-san, it is good to see you are not seriously injured. However, we... have come to apologise for our dishonourable behaviour. We have been... intentionally constructing courses that are unnecessarily difficult and dangerous for you. We have been foolish. We do not particularly favour the nickname that you have given our little group. It is too... American, if you will forgive me saying so, and resorted to causing you undue harm instead of merely voicing our thoughts and resolving the situation honourably." He finished and stepped back, looking at Ron for a reaction.

The blonde pondered that information for a moment. "...O...kay. While I'm not exactly over the moon with the idea you guys were out to do me some damage, I totally respect why. I shoulda been a bit cooler with the nickname. My bad. But now it's all out in the open and I've got no permanent damage, it's cool. I guess I should be honoured or something that you guys actually had the balls to admit to that." He grinned from the bed and the five ninjas visibly relaxed, grinning themselves.

One of the others stepped forward. "Stoppable-san, we are most honoured that you accept our apology. You are indeed a worthy comrade." Ron smiled back before they bit him goodbye and disappeared, leaving Ron to rest up until lunchtime.

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After lunch, in which the head lunch lady had felt particularly sorry for him as he did his best to hobble forward and grab his lunch and slowed down her tray-snatching a shade, Sensei called the whole school to the assault course area, where the course that had gotten the best of Ron still stood. At the start, the 5 ninjas that had assembled the course stood, looking more than a little apprehensive. Sensei stepped forward and addressed the gathered group in Japanese. Yori, having sought Ron out, translated any unknown words. "I have called you all here to witness the punishment of our technicians. They have behaved dishonourably to our guest, Stoppable-san. Their punishment is to complete the course which they knew he could not."

The students began to mutter amongst themselves and sneak quick glances at Ron before a movement from Sensei silenced them. Ron looked on rather intrigued at the proceedings. He wanted to know just how much harder his course had been made than the others. Another move from Sensei and the first one of the group leapt into action, attacking the assault course at speed, hoping to outrun the swinging hammers, spinning blades and all other manner of rather vicious-looking obstacles, but failed dismally as he got about 2/3rds of the way round, having to be extricated from a giant vat of a syrup-y looking substance with stepping stones that appeared to be floating on the surface.

Once he had been dragged clear, the next 'victim' started the course, taking a seemingly more methodical approach, but didn't even make it halfway before being knocked unconscious and partially skewered by a particularly nasty-looking setup involving a balance beam that, as you walked along it, began sinking quickly under the weight, bringing up a pair of sturdy wooden boards that had large wooden spikes and posts fixed to them in random places.

The other three fared no better, the furthest only making it to the spiked rollers that were 4/5ths of the way round the course, losing his footing and almost getting impaled on one of the drums. All the while, Sensei had looked on with a stone-faced expression before turning back to the crowd, some of the students looking rather queasy at what they had witnessed. "I hope this serves as a lesson to all of you. I will not tolerate bullying in my school. Those that are found to be acting in such a dishonourable manner will be punished accordingly. This deathtrap will now be dismantled. I expect my students to be good, but not to risk their lives in such foolish attempts at heroics." The old ninja turned to leave, but was stopped by Ron standing up once Yori had finished translating for him.

"Er, Sensei, um... would you mind... leaving up...please?" He asked in his somewhat shaky Japanese, a little embarrassed before steeling himself for what he knew would come next.

"May I ask your reasons behind wanting me to allow this?" The old ninja asked, curious as to his answer, and also somewhat impressed that he had the courage to challenge his decisions, let alone the fact he had spoken to him in his native tongue.

"I... I want get good enough to beat, Sensei. I **will** get good enough to beat." He said with more clarity. "I want use as seat mark, see progress I making with Monkey Kung Fu." He replied, hoping he'd made enough sense that the ancient Ninja could understand him.

Sensei was a little surprised to hear the determination in the young American's voice, and more than a little impressed. That he could take something that had been designed to cause him serious injury and turn it around into something to use as a training tool was, in his eyes, a very noble pursuit, showing true strength of spirit. "Very well, Stoppable-san. I will leave it up until you have conquered it. But be warned, I am leaving you solely responsible for it until that time. If anyone injures themselves thinking they can do the same, it will be the both of you that will be punished. Do you still wish to leave it up?" He asked, testing Ron's mettle. He felt sure he would not give. The determination in the young boy's face told him that he would accept the responsibility to help better himself.

Ron paused for a moment, all eyes on him. "I do." He replied simply. Sensei smiled beneath his beard and bowed to Ron, the blonde doing the same.

"Very well, Stoppable-san. I am impressed that you would risk the punishment over the foolishness of others to truly become better." Ron proceeded to blush slightly at the compliment as Sensei straightened and walked away.

Yori turned to him. "Ron-san! That was a truly honourable thing to do! I am very impressed that you are learning it's true value and that you have learned to turn a disadvantage around and learn from it!" She smiled at him before pulling him into a hug, being careful not to hold on too tight and aggravate his injuries. Ron's display of courage and determination, standing up and challenging Sensei's decision in front of the whole school had made her a little moist. The boy she had grown to love was turning into a man. "Tonight I have a surprise for you..." She whispered sensually in his ear, giving his lobe a small nip before releasing him and running off to teach her next class.

Ron just stood there, his brain having temporarily stopped functioning at the closeness of the Japanese girl, her smell, the feel of her cheek against his, the sound of her voice as she'd whispered... wait. What -had- she whispered in his ear? Something about a surprise? Tonight? ...Eh? He stood there confused. "What did she mean 'surprise'?" He asked no-one in particular.

The day progressed rather slowly after that. The thought of Yori's 'surprise' and the constant painful reminders of his time spent in the assault course sapping his concentration. The afternoon's lesson had been on the art of disappearing, which he had, until that day, been mastering with great success. The class' instructor had managed to spot him easily on several occasions and had suggested that Ron spend the rest of the day meditating to help him get over the physical effects of the morning's battering. Ron had only gone after the teacher had threatened to put him back in the infirmary for his stubbornness.

----------------------------------------------

Crawling into his bed, he stretched out on his back and sighed in bliss. He had managed to somehow sneak another 2 bed mats out of Yamanouchi's storage room and disguise them to look like he only had the one. He had completely forgotten about Yori's surprise and within minutes, he was out for the count, Rufus looking to be in the same state.

However, when he heard Ron's light snoring, something he always ended up doing whenever the blonde slept on his back, the rodent cracked an eye open and gave the room a quick look-over to ensure Ron's state of unconsciousness. Using the stealth skills he had learnt, the molerat crept out of his cage and over to the door, slipping out of it without a sound. He scurried down the hall to Yori's door and slipped inside just as silently, scrambling onto Yori's bed and up to her shoulder, chittering almost soundlessly that Ron was asleep.

Yori cracked another predatory grin and whispered a thanks to Rufus as she slipped out of bed, smiling as the molerat gave her a quick thumbs up before burying himself under her covers and going to sleep himself. She had the hairless mammal help her plan Ron's surprise, being more than a little surprised when Rufus had unearthed the large box of rubbers from his bag. "Ron like you lots! Uh huh!" He had squeaked at the time.

She was dressed in her full ninja gear and pulled the hood up to cover her head as she herself sneaked out her door and along the hall to Ron's room. She nearly shit herself when Sensei tapped her on the shoulder. The man's amazing ability to appear out of thin air was unnerving, as well as infuriating. "If you are planning what I think you are planning, please remember to set up the anti-sound shield Shinjuko developed. The amount of times I have had to remind you beggars belief. While I may promote the deepening of relations among my students, I and the rest of the school do not wish to hear just how 'deep' they are getting for the whole night..." He whispered.

Yori blushed crimson at the reminder of her past forgetfulness, noting the smirk that had crept onto the old man's features as he held up four silver cubes in a silk bag, each about the size of a golf ball. She took the proffered equipment without a word and bowed her head slightly indicating she understood. With that done, Sensei disappeared once again and Yori was alone in the hallway.

Once her heart rate and skin tone had returned to normal, she continued with her 'mission', sneaking into Ron's room and silently setting up the shield, placing a cube in each corner of the room and pressing a small button on the top. As the final cube was set in place and the button pushed, there was an almost inaudible 'Bzz!' and a brief flash of almost unnoticeable green beams that gridded the whole room for a few milliseconds before they too were gone.

The room now properly soundproofed, Yori prepared herself for her 'surprise'...

FOOTNOTE: Have a nice cliffhanger! I'm a bastard, I know. You wait all this time for some proper smut and I rob you of it until next chapter! Har har!

Seriously though, until just recently, this chapter has been monumentally hard work to write. I just couldn't get into the whole 'YoRon' groove. Some parts of this chapter I'm not overly keen on, but they're good enough that it keeps the chapter flowing smoothly. Ish.

Next chapter will be the culmination of Yori's surprise and maybe something of another surprise as well, depending on the length. Also, more racing and Kim and Shego's weird friendly relationship progresses with Monique's help, albeit not as much as you'd like, oh no! More cliffhangers and SERIOUS drama's coming. Ain't I a tease?

Leave me some love, peeps.

Gi: The white karate suit thing they wear for training. Just in case you were wondering.


	9. Fly On The Wall

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I feel I haven't been focusing enough on Shego in the story thus far, so I'm gonna try and rectify that slightly in this chapter. Hence the chapter title. I hadn't been listening to the AC/DC album, 'onest, guv!  
Feel free to hit me up with some ideas I could use on the green meanie. Oh, and I'm not good at writing fight scenes, so don't bitch about the length or lack thereof of the fight scenes in this chapter.

Also, the reason behind this taking so long to get out, is it took me a fucking AGE to write the filth. Lesbian sex, yeah, not much of a problem writing that. Straight sex, namely with Ron involved, my mind switches off and decides it doesn't want to play.

We carry on from where the last chapter left off. So, straight into the smut. You have been warned. I take no responsibility for your choice of reading material after this point.

And cheers to my nice, new beta-reader, Computer God.

Chapter 9: Fly On The Wall

Yori silently stalked up to the sleeping figure of Ron and purposely kicked something by his bed, satisfied when it made a dull 'clunk'.

Ron was instantly awake and in his defensive stance, frantically looking everywhere for the source of the noise when a ninja came at him with their feet, trying to knock him back to the floor. He managed to block the attack, but couldn't see enough to retaliate. He had to rely on his other senses until his eyes adjusted to the gloom and he could anticipate the moves of his attacker. The thought never registered that Yamanouchi had never yet been successfully penetrated by an outside force, and the person attacking him was a little too petite to be something like an assassin.

The shapely ninja kept up her assault on the blonde boy, waiting for him to properly get into his game. She knew he had come on a long way from the uncoordinated amateur he had arrived as. She also knew that he had been too busy training to acknowledge he had been 18 for 2 weeks. Sensei had been planning a small celebration for him, but Yori talked him out of it, reasoning a celebration might distract him from his training, and she had something up her sleeve that he should appreciate.

The sidekick's eyes finally adjusted properly and he began his offensive, starting with a series of punches going in low and high and everywhere in between at random, trying to catch his assailant off-guard. Indeed, they had trouble anticipating this tactic and he managed to follow it up with a low spin-kick, taking them off their feet.

Yori had a hard time deflecting all of Ron's punches and couldn't help letting a few through. She had to bite her tongue to save from making a noise as the hits landed. 'My word! Ron-san is not as weak as he makes out! I shall have to instruct him not to hold back when sparring next time.' The ninja thought as her feet were taken out from under her. She managed to counter the move, landing on her hands and pushing off from the ground, feet parted slightly in an attempt to close them around the American's neck.

Ron saw the attack and countered it, letting the legs close around his neck, but spinning his attacker round and falling forward, landing quite heavily on top of them. Quickly adjusting his position, he successfully pinned the squirming ninja on his bed and reached up to de-mask them. He was somewhat shocked when he saw Yori's face grinning up at him. "Yori?! What the hell?!" He exclaimed in his usual fashion.

The teenage ninja couldn't help the small giggle that escaped her. "Well Ron-san, now that you have beaten me, what do you plan to do with me?" She asked sensually, the grin being replaced by a devilish 'come hither' look.

Ron was slightly lost for a moment. "Do with you?"

Then it clicked. The predatory grin that crawled onto his face sent shivers up Yori's spine. He looked almost sinister in the darkness. He leaned down and kissed her, delicately at first, before turning up the heat as she responded. As their tongues engaged in a duel for dominance, Ron's left hand moved down to grab a handful of the oriental girl's right breast while the other cradled her head, pulling her in closer to deepen the kiss.

Yori was a little surprised at Ron's sudden confidence and his wandering hands. She had visions of having to do all the work herself and hold his hand through the whole thing. His current forwardness wasn't something she was going to complain about, however. She began running her hands over his body, noting with some selfish glee that he'd become quite toned since he had arrived.

His lack of clothes and Yori's abundance in comparison left Ron thinking he should do something about it. Taking the hand previously engaged with his partner's breast, he trailed it down her top, stopping at the waistband of her trousers, opening his eyes to seek permission without having to break the kiss.

Yori, too, opened her eyes to find out why Ron had stopped. The American communicated his question with mere eye movements and Yori had to suppress the urge to giggle at his antics. She would not be here if she did not want him to continue in 'that' manner. Signalling for him to go on, she closed her eyes again and went back to enjoying the attention.

Having gotten the answer he wanted, Ron slipped his hand under the waistband and found, to his delight, she was sans panties and chose not to conform to a certain oriental stereotype; this being an abundance of undergrowth. He had often wondered how on earth they managed to keep such dense foliage clean and hygienic... But he was getting sidetracked...

Making his way further south, he noted a neatly-trimmed landing strip before it tapered off to nothing, presumably indicating a certain 'point of first contact'. Not one to ignore suggestions, he parted the soft folds that hid the female's 'on' button and used his middle finger to trace circles round it, never quite touching it.

Yori inhaled sharply through her nose before moaning as Ron's left hand teased her most sensitive areas mercilessly, not quite giving her what she wanted. Breaking the kiss, she looked at the blonde sternly. "Ron-san, if you do not stop this teasing instantly, I will be forced to take matters into my own hands." She informed him, reaching round to his front and gripping his scrotum rather tightly.

Ron gulped. "Yes, ma'am!" He replied, busying his fingers with a less subtle approach to getting the young ninja off. Repositioning his hand slightly, the American slipped his index and middle fingers inside her, using his thumb to rub her swollen clit hard, making the noisy oriental even noisier.

Deciding she should probably give something back, the ninja loosened her grip on Ron's tackle and slipped her hand down the front of his shorts, not surprised to find him already hard. She began pumping his shaft in time with the fingers that were currently sliding in and out of her own erogenous zone, opening her eyes to observe the myriad of expressions that crossed her partner's face.

On feeling the grip on his nut sack loosen, Ron thought he was just going to be left to finish what he had started with his fingers, so was wholly unprepared for where Yori's hand travelled to next. His eyes snapped open briefly before his face melted into all kinds of silly expressions that portrayed the pleasure he was feeling.

Finally breaking the kiss, Yori thought it was about time to take control of the situation. It was nice being underneath, but even better being on top. Flipping Ron onto his back, she smirked deviously as she removed her ninja garb, making sure to give the blonde a good view of her naked figure. "Remove your underwear, Ron-san. You will not be needing them."

He did as instructed and was naked in less time than it took most people to blink. The oriental girl had to suppress a giggle at Ron's eagerness before carrying on with her plan. Pushing him back onto the bed, she swung a leg over his head and positioned her dripping snatch over his face, bending over to take his hard member in her hands. "Do not feel you have to ask permission to dive in, Ron-san." The ninja said with a smirk on seeing the apprehensive look on his face.

He didn't need telling twice. Pulling her arse down closer, he buried his tongue inside the proffered opening, knowing he must be doing something right when Yori started squealing and grinding her hips into his face. Yori, for her part, got to sucking him off before her mind completely clouded over from the tongue-rogering Ron was administering. As she did so, Ron noticed the volume in the room drop to almost nothing, and he froze. 'Oh shit! Paper walls! Sensei's gonna be so pissed in the morning!'

Yori was a little put off that he'd suddenly gone rigid, and said as much. "Ron-san! What is the matter with you?! Why did you stop?"

"Th-the _noise_, Yori! Paper walls! We gotta keep it down!" Ron replied in a whisper.

Yori couldn't help but roll her eyes. "Do you not think I would have taken that into consideration when planning this surprise?" She asked nonchalantly. She wasn't about to mention that she **had** forgotten until Sensei turned up with the soundproof cubes... "I have set up a soundproof shield around the perimeter of the room. We are able to make as much noise as we like, and nobody will hear us."

"Sorry, my bad." Ron replied sheepishly, before relaxing again as they both went back to the task at hand.

It seemed to both of them that the brief respite had made them even more sensitive, and it wasn't long before they were closing on their first orgasms of the session. Ron's legs were shaking and his eyes were rolled back in his head from the intense pleasure Yori was making him feel, and it was all he could do to continue lapping at her moist axe-wound. Yori was faring no better as she couldn't help but gyrate on her partner's mouth, forcing his tongue deeper and rubbing her clit on his chin. Within minutes, Yori was screaming out her orgasm, bucking and writhing on top of the blonde, who was in a sexually-induced stupor and could do nothing but continue licking as his head was soaked in girly love goo...

Coming down from her little high, the young oriental could now concentrate properly on Ron, using both hands and mouth to good effect. It didn't take very long for him to come to his own finish, nearly choking Yori when he shot his man-porridge down her throat. Being the good ninja she was, Yori didn't spill a drop and made sure to clean up after he'd finished.

Ron lay there in a state of boneless relaxation, a wry smile on his face, but his eyes about as focused as a broken microscope as Yori climbed off him. Turning round, she grinned demonically. "Oh, Ron-san. Do not tell me you are tired already! That was merely foreplay!" The oriental beauty said in an angelic tone. Ron groaned in reply, causing his partner to giggle.

She bent down and kissed him, enjoying the taste of herself on his lips and tongue. He responded in kind, although it took him a while to come back down from cloud 9. She reached down and began working his wilting member back to full strength for round 2, positioning herself over him once the American was hard and slid down on him, making sure to make the movement painfully slow, letting him know **exactly** what it felt like to be completely inside her.

The blonde sidekick was in heaven. It was all he could do to try and keep his mind from melting at the sensations emanating from his hard-on. All efforts were in vain as the Japanese temptress began working up a steady rhythm, sliding up and down on his shaft and sending him back into the lust-induced stupor he'd been crawling back from. Not that he was really making a valiant effort to leave...

Yori bit her lip to save from screaming this early on. She had abstained from any form of sexual activities the second she'd heard Ron would be visiting, so having something hot and hard in her loins again was akin to a crystal meth addict's latest fix.

Ron, managing to claw back some semblance of motor control, began matching Yori's thrusts with his own. Having blown his first load, he could focus more on putting in a good performance. He got more into it as the minutes passed, and soon had the young ninja down on her hands and knees, wailing like a Japanese banshee as he vigorously ploughed in and out of her.

It wasn't long before she was approaching her second orgasm of the night, and Ron didn't look like he was anywhere close. And he wasn't. He was thinking about anything but the mind-bending sensations to make sure Yori got hers first. 'Remember to always be the gentleman and make sure your lady's happy before thinking about yourself.' His father had told him when it came to having their 'talk'... and boy, what an effect thinking about that particular moment in time was having on him!

'AAAARGH!! NO!! Fuck you, brain! FUCK YOU!!' He screamed in his head, screwing his face up to try and banish the mental images of his father at such an inappropriate time. Thankfully, Yori biting his shoulder as her orgasm hit brought him back to reality, albeit somewhat painfully.

The oriental girl acted on impulse when Ron sent her over the edge, biting whatever was closest to hand- err, mouth to save Ron's eardrums. She had a tendency to be a bit loud, and a few of her past partners had been left unable to hear as astutely as was oft required for a few days. When Yori began tasting blood, her senses made a hasty comeback as she realized that the 'pillow' she'd been biting was Ron's shoulder, and he had a slightly pained expression on his face.

"Oh Ron-san! I am sorry! I had thought I was biting a pillow!" She babbled as they both stopped for a moment.

"Heh. No worries. The Ron-Man can take it. Does bring a new meaning to the term 'love bite' though." He replied with a smirk, getting back into his rhythm.

Yori smiled in response, going back to sliding up and down Ron's bacon torpedo with some vigour. The American soon forgot all about the pain in his shoulder as he was once again turned into a mindless sex-toy. The oriental used all her talent to make things as pleasurable for Ron as she could, and it wasn't long before he had that look on his face that told her he wasn't far from his own release.

Stepping up the pace slightly, Yori grinned as Ron clenched his teeth trying to hold off the inevitable. "Ron-san, let yourself go. Do not feel you have anything to prove by holding out." She whispered sensually, nipping his earlobe.

That encouragement was all he needed to give in. Putting all his effort into the final vinegar stroke, he grunted, throwing his head back and tensing up completely, lifting his midsection and Yori off the floor as he filled her with ball-batter.

The young ninja balanced herself on top of her arched partner and smiled. "I know it is a bit late, but happy birthday, Ron-san." She said sensually as Ron relaxed, breathing heavily.

"Whoa! That... was the best... birthday present... ever... You're amazing... Yori." The blonde panted, wrapping his arms round her in a tight embrace.

She blushed slightly. "I am just glad you enjoyed it." She answered, returning the hug.

After both had recovered sufficiently, they rearranged themselves into a more comfortable position in Ron's bed and drifted off to sleep, content smiles on their faces.

-- (Fucking site deleting my line breaks!)

Kim had managed to get herself into somewhat of a Ron-less routine. Get up, pick ride (which had started showing heavy favouritism towards the Gas Gas as it was easier to park and cheaper to run), get to school, seek out Monique, chat, switch herself off to everyone in lessons where she wasn't with Monique, lunch at Bueno Nacho, same in the afternoon, home via GJ, homework, then tinker with her babies if she had any time or energy left over. And in the midst of all that, cheer practice and missions with the odd shopping trip where Monique would try and convince her to buy some new 'in' clothing and they'd end up having a friendly argument over Kim's lack of fashion sense and Monique's fashion obsession.

"Meh. The money's worth it, and there's racing on Saturday." She told herself when things got particularly dull or difficult. The redhead had pretty much started living for the missions and the racing, the adrenaline hit and seeing Shego (something she wouldn't even admit to herself) being the only things keeping her sane. Life was just too fucking serious otherwise!

A frequent occurrence that was beginning to annoy and affect the teen on conscious and subconscious levels respectively, was that Monique regularly pointed out attractive females, or attractive parts of females, declaring that she wouldn't mind 'tappin' that shit' or some other relatively crude comment and causing the redhead to blush as she caught her gaze lingering longer, more and more frequently.

"Girl, if ah didn' know better, ah'd swear you were checkin' her out too!" Monique commented, raising her eyebrow at Kim. She had been noticing, just as Kim had, that her gazes were lingering and the dark-skinned girl was sure Kim was holding something back.

The redhead was indeed holding back. The internal verbal war between herself and 'The Voice' had been waging for what seemed like days now. The Voice was always making crude comments and snide remarks when it noticed Kim's actions, as well as saying _'Monique's got the right idea. Twice the partner choice and you gotta admit that pretty blonde she was eyeing up earlier looked absolutely delicious!' _

And The Voice **knew **it was winning, too. Something it didn't brag about lest its host have an attack of rebellion and all the ground taken was lost. Kim's arguments were getting feebler, however. 'But she's got a boyfriend!' 'She's straight!' 'I just DO NOT bend that way!' 'I wouldn't be seen DEAD with ANYONE wearing that!' And the one she used just before Monique had commented; 'She is just SO not my type!'

Kim regretted letting that last one slip. The Voice jumped on it like a hyena on a freshly-abandoned, still-warm corpse. It ripped that statement apart in the same fashion as well. '_So you admit she's attractive and you wouldn't mind taking her home for a quick fuck, and all you're worried about is that she's not your type? Someone's scared of rejection! Why not ask Mo? You __**know**__ she wouldn't turn you down! You __**know**__ you wanna try it! I've seen you sneaking glances at her arse and playing it off like you were just admiring the jeans or the skirt! And we won't even START on Shego!'_

That particular attack had left Kim's wavering certainty about her sexuality on fragile foundations. The Voice was desperate to go in for the final blow but, as with all good things, shit happened and Wade buzzed in with a mission. More robotics equipment had been stolen and the local authorities were at a loss. "Sorry, Mo! Gotta dash!" She exclaimed hurriedly, grabbing her bag and helmet and dashing out to her bike.

Arriving on the scene, it looked like a typical Drakken and Shego smash-and-grab, but something was decidedly off. She knew Shego practically lived off tripping alarms to get some action, or maybe to wind the mad scientist up, but the sensors had never been set off. No hint of her usual strategy of entering; i.e. huge plasma blast, nor any sign of a discarded nail file, as was **always** the case when dealing with the criminal duo. Drakken would rant and rave about his latest scheme, Shego would get bored, file her claws and then fling it to one side either when they departed or Kim showed up.

Kim also ended up with no leads and no new information. "Bollocks!" She spat bitterly. The redhead rode away from the scene after apologising to the police about her shortcomings and stopped a few miles out, pulling into a busy fuel station. The hero pulled out her Kimmunicator, leaving the engine running to give her a bit of privacy and called up her nemesis, hoping she wouldn't be disturbing the irritable woman.

'Wait, since when do I worry about disturbing Shego?' She wondered to herself. '_Since you decided you want her body!' _The Voice interjected before she could silence it. The redhead chose to ignore the comment as Shego answered the video call.

"Hey, Stig. Whadda ya want?" The thief asked nonchalantly, propping her mobile up on something and going back to reading StreetFighters Magazine.

"Erm... have you been out stealing with Drakken lately?" Kim asked, deciding not to beat about the bush.

The green lady looked a bit put out by that. "Oh yeah, like I'd really tell you if I had!" She shot back with a sour look. "Besides, you'da fucking known about it because nerdlinger woulda told ya and I woulda handed you your arse on a plasma platter!"

Kim frowned inside her helmet. "So you haven't been out since that big heist you got away with?" She asked to clarify, a hint of bitterness in her voice as she remembered having been beaten. She gave the bike a quick few hard revs, noting how the engine had started to bog. The resulting cloud of smoke engulfed a group of lawyers who had just been commenting on the 'noisy, smelly bike ridden by an obvious vagrant' and they began coughing and moved hurriedly away. If the redhead had known what she had unwittingly done, it would have had her sniggering for a good while.

Shego smirked slightly as she remembered the infuriated look in the hero's eyes when they had gotten away. "No, I haven't. And I'll tell you this for free. I'm getting FUCKING BORED sitting around waiting for that JACKASS to gimme something to FUCKING DO!" She screamed, holding down a button on some sort of control panel, which turned out to be a comm system.

Seconds later, Drakken's voice boomed through the room and the Kimmunicator's speakers: "QUIET, Shego! I'm incredibly busy and your disturbances are NOT WELCOME!" He spat back, uncharacteristically venomous.

Shego was as shocked as Kim was at this sudden change of tune, but it quickly turned to anger. "Bastard dare speak to me like that!" She depressed the button again. "YOU'D BETTER WATCH YOUR FUCKING MOUTH, _DREWBIE,_ OR NO AMOUNT OF PLASTIC SURGERY IS GONNA SAVE YOU FROM EATING YOUR MEALS THROUGH A STRAW FOR THE REST OF YOUR FUCKING LIFE!!" She finished, punching the panel with a glowing fist, rendering it useless for both in- and outgoing transmissions.

Kim grinned slightly at Shego's annoyance. She was kinda cute when she was angry. 'Wait, I did **not** just think that!' _'I think you'll find you di-id.' _The Voice replied in a sing-song manner, but went quiet for now, saving that little titbit for later.

The ebony-haired superwoman sighed, rubbing her temples. "Sorry, Princess. I'm too fucked off to talk, now. I'm gonna go spar with some useless sacks of goo. I'll see you Saturday." She said wearily, reaching for her phone to cut the call.

Out of nowhere, Kim suddenly blurted, "I'll spar with you!" which took both of them by surprise. The helmet was Kim's saving grace as Shego couldn't see the shocked expression, or the rising blush, on her face.

"You're shitting me, right? Seriously, who the fuck are you and what have you done with Kimmie?" The thief asked seriously.

The redhead quickly got herself back under control and flipped up her visor. "Um... still me, Shego. Err... I... dunno where that came from, so feel free to tell me to fuck off, but I s'pose as the offer's out there, I could do with the practice." She smirked as an idea struck her. "That is, if you're not afraid of munching asphalt..." Kim challenged, her eyes glinting with the sudden adrenaline boost associated with gearing up for a fight with the gorgeous green goddess.

"Oh you are **SO** ON, bitch!" Shego threatened, cracking her knuckles and grinning evilly. The thief wasn't about to back down from a challenge (something Kim had counted on) and began mentally preparing to fight the redhead. "How does that empty unit next to the lockup sound? Say in half an hour's time?" She added in a jibe of her own. "If that smelly little bees' nest can make it, of course." Shego planned to turn up on her newly-finished ZX-10R, having not had a chance to take it for a ride as Drakken kept threatening to need her for something...

That got her thinking... Why had Kim asked her if she'd been out on any jobs? She must have had her reasons... Had Drakken been stealing things without her? Now she thought about it, he'd been a lot more closed off lately, finishing her bike without actually being threatened and never bothering to tell her he'd done so. 'No gloating from Drakken about him having 'created a masterpiece of engineering'? What the fuck?'

She didn't have any more time to ponder as a very sour-looking Kim interrupted her after spending a moment grumbling to herself under her breath. "Yeah, least my bike's in one piece! Bet it's more fun to ride than your boring sportsbike as well." The redhead stated, continuing before Shego had chance to interrupt. "You sure you don't want me to come and pick you up, make sure your overweight musclecar doesn't cough and die from hauling itself about?"

"Fuck you, Princess! See you in half an hour!" 'Oh, that smartarse bitch is SO gonna get it when I see her!' She vowed as she cut the call, also cutting Kim off as she started with a reply. The thief began preparing herself to go and meet the hero. She headed back to her quarters, pulling out her dusty helmet, a Simpson DiamondBack in black with her signature plasma flames painted on it, starting at the nose and fading away about halfway along. The black visor was a given.

Already dressed in her catsuit, also doubling as decent riding wear, the green woman headed out of her room and down to the garage, reaching down and pulling out a rather large bundle of keys from her ankle pouch and unclipping one from it. She stopped at the seemingly stock Kawasaki and gave it another look-over.

From a distance, the bike looked stock. As you got closer, differences began appearing, like the matching plasma flame-painted bodywork done in such a way as to follow the lines of the original green panelwork, although the tail unit was a deep gloss black and the sidepanels and tank had the flames trailing off about halfway along, like the helmet. The hugely restrictive exhaust had been replaced with a titanium unit, hand-made, that fitted the gap in the bottom of the bellypan with diamond-shaped outlets on either side. The resulting gap where the underseat cans had been was filled with 2 slimline nitrous bottles and the carbuncle of a number plate holder had been replaced with a discreet affair. A custom green-and-black number plate had been bolted to it.

There were other numerous little touches that stood out less, like the radial Brembo brakes on Bitubo forks, a matching rear shock and brake calliper, braided brake lines, billet clutch cover hiding a Works slipper clutch and the rare-as-rocking-horse-shit Marvic wheels, originally intended for a ZX-7R racebike, but modified to fit the much newer machine.

Shego slipped the key into the ignition and turned the bike on, swinging her leg over the machine and pulling on her helmet at the same time. Squeezing the clutch in and thumbing the 'start' button, the engine span over a few times before barking into life, the exhaust note reverberating around the garage like machine gun fire. She revved it a few times, noting how the loud sucking noise the Keihin FCR carburettors were making was swiftly followed by an almost instant redlining of the motor and large flames licking her feet on the overrun.

'Heh. Who needs a fucking spark arrestor when your bike's **this** fucking cool?!' The thief thought idly, hitting the button for the garage door and rolling out of the lair slowly, not wanting to chance binning her baby on the gravel by getting too happy with the throttle.

She hit the surface street the dirt track led on to and accelerated softly, keeping the revs low as she got a feel for riding again, although as soon as she hit the small high street of the sleepy suburb, she gave it a handful and let out a small shriek as the front wheel instantly left the tarmac and the bike shot off down the road, engine howling with the combined induction roar and exhaust note. 'Let's see what little Kimmie makes of this!' She thinks with a grin, opening the throttle further.

The bike ate up corners and straights like a starving green demon. Shego pushed it harder the further she rode, wanting to find its limits. She took corners faster than any sane person would have even dreamed of, only backing off when she felt the rear end begin to twitch as the footpegs started sparking on the road. Straights were attacked by a vicious snapping open of the throttle, the bike standing up on its rear wheel and the thief literally having to hang over the front of the bike to save from flipping it.

As the thief was stopped at a set of lights a few blocks away from the lockup, a heavily modified, over-chromed Hayabusa street/strip bike pulled up beside her. It was long and low and, in Shego's opinion, tacky. The rider looked her bike over and seemingly turned his nose up at it. 'Anyone can get a fancy exhaust and some custom paint.' He'd decided. Shego took offence at his actions and revved her bike in a challenging manner, shifting her weight further forward to get a better launch.

The 'busa rider laughed internally. 'Too easy!' He thought, giving a tiny nod and settling lower on the bike.

The green thief had her eyes glued to the lights and let the revs build slowly, not wanting to give anything away with the induction noise. The other rider was doing the same, but was beginning to feel ever-so-slightly nervous as the overpowered Kawasaki's exhaust note got increasingly louder and crisper, sounding more like mini explosions going off than any sort of engine noise he'd ever heard.

As the lights turned yellow, both riders pinned the throttle, one being deafened by the noise, and then dropping the clutches as the lights turned green.

Shego disappeared. The other rider was left practically standing.

His lock-up clutch had done exactly that and transferred all the power to the rear wheel causing it to spin up, whereas the slipper clutch in Shego's bike had done what the name suggested. It had slipped, giving the already abused rubber a chance to stick and shoot the green mercenary up the road at warp 10, clinging on for dear life and praying there was nothing in front as all she could see was the sky...

Arriving early, Shego broke into the building and wheeled her bike inside, leaving the door far enough ajar for the redhead to do the same.

Mincing about, she had time to think. She was here to fight Kim on an almost friendly basis. The feeling that came over her as that sunk in was one she hadn't felt in quite a while. Appreciation. She hadn't even felt that when Drakken had finished her bike or any work on her GT500 had been completed. She saw it that the bike was payment for her continued services and it made up for the times when 'Drewbie' had pissed her off, and the people working on the car were getting paid fucking good money to do the job.

Kim, at the end of the day, had gone out of her way to offer her nemesis a service and to help her blow off steam, just because. _'I don't even think the double entendre needs pointing out...' _The Voice pointed out in a bored tone. 'Not you again! Can't you get a fucking clue and disappear?!' The thief huffed mentally. _'Only when __**you**__ get a clue and get with 'your Kimmie'!'_ The Voice responded with a bitterness that actually had Shego floundering for a second. 'Never gonna fucking happen! Opposite sides of the law! She'd only end up chucking me in the slammer anyway! So yeah, feel free to make yourself at home, cuz it'll be a fucking cold day in Hell before that shit happens!' She replied.

The Voice shut up for the time being, but it did spark other thoughts. It had been a good few weeks since she'd had the experience of going toe-to-toe with the cheeky teen and, much to her shock, she realised she missed it. Not just the fighting either. She missed the witty remarks, jibes, insults, the way her hair flicked around when she moved, the grin she always wore, the- 'No! We're NOT going down that road!' Shego mentally halted that train of thought instantly. She was here for a fight. She was here to relieve stress and fuck all else.

Just as she was doing that, she heard the familiar scream of Kim's GasGas getting closer, the exhaust note never changing intensity as she changed up. Within seconds, she could hear the chirruping of a tyre being dragged down the road and the engine being slammed down the gears as Kim approached the lockup doors. 'Oooh, sounds like she's got a bit of a temper about her today!' Shego thought with glee.

Kim had ridden like a madwoman all the way to the lockup, really abusing the dinky stroker and pulling off some very impressive powerslides now that she had figured out how to do them. Shego cutting her off had infuriated her ever-so-slightly and she'd vowed to make the mercenary bleed for that.

Pulling up sharply outside the lockup, she practically flew through the open door and skidded to a halt inside, dropping the bike on its sidestand and dismounting, roughly pulling off her bag, gloves and helmet and putting them under the bike. "I spose one of the things your parents never got round to teaching you was any fucking manners." She spat, throwing her jacket over the saddle and stalking towards her nemesis.

"I can tell you wanna be leaving in a bodybag Princess, cuz nobody EVER has a dig at my parents!" The villainess yelled as she launched herself at Kim, tackling her around the midriff and slamming her into the ground.

Before she got a chance to make anything of getting the girl on the deck, the momentum of the tackle was being used against her and she was being flipped off, landing heavily on her back.

Kim was on her in a second, grabbing her wrists and swinging her round, letting go and sending the older woman into a stack of empty crates that practically disintegrated on impact. Screaming in anger, Shego blew the debris into atoms and ran at Kim, her anger from earlier returning with a vengeance. Kim looked slightly worried.

They went at it like wild dogs fighting over food and mating rights. Shego wasn't pulling any punches and it was all Kim could do to fend the woman off, resorting to some very dirty tactics to get anywhere. In hindsight, maybe she really shouldn't have made that jibe about her parents...

After half an hour of being on the receiving end of some pretty brutal attacks, Kim decided she'd had enough for a while. There was only so much someone could take without stopping for a tea break! "Time out! Time out!" She yelled, trying to get Shego to stop at least long enough to have a quick drink. No luck. "SHEGO! TIME OUT!" The redhead yelled, kicking the thief somewhere rather sensitive...

Shego's breath caught in her throat and she went slightly cross-eyed, a single tear of pain rolling down her cheek, her mouth open wide in a silent scream. 'Oh Jesus! Fuck me sideways, that **HURTS!**' Finally managing to breathe, let alone think, she found herself laying on the floor clutching said sensitive area with both hands. "What the fuck, Kimmie?! Since when was a cunt punt fair game?!" She yelled from her place on the floor.

It was all the fiery teen could do to save from sniggering at the situation. "Well you didn't appear to be listening when I yelled 'time out', so I resorted to a physical message instead." She stated as if it was 'no big', although when she went to wave the action off, she hissed and grimaced.

As the pain receded in the thief's groin, some of her wit returned. "Aww, the great Kim Possible needed a time out. Whassamatter? A simple hired mercenary too much for you?" she quipped, smirking slightly.

Kim frowned, rolling her eyes. "In case you've forgotten, you have flaming fists and all that shit, and I got the feeling you were on a mission to actually do me some damage, so forgive a mere mortal for wanting a break." She shot back, walking over to her bag and pulling out two bottles of water and a green box.

As she did, Shego got a good look over her opponent. Indeed, Kim did look worse for wear. There were several rips in her clothing, her arms were bruising and she had more than a few burns that were gonna need looking at if the hero didn't want scars, not to mention a handful of small cuts and a few more major ones from the thief's gloves. 'Ok, maybe I did go a little overboard just now...' The thief conceded.

Kim came back over and tossed Shego one of the bottles of water, which was caught, and sat down with her legs crossed, setting the green box she'd brought over in her lap. Taking a quick few gulps from her drink, she opened the box and began rifling through it.

Pulling out a tube of cream, followed by a needle and thread and some bandages, Kim set to work patching herself up. She hadn't even bitched about the wounds and just got on with it, Shego noted. She suddenly began feeling extremely guilty. Was that how it was now? Kim just accepted the damage she inflicted without a single complaint? Just patched herself up and soldiered on? Part of her conscience was demanding why she was worrying about Kim, and the other part, combined with the voice, was screaming at it to shut the fuck up and stop being a selfish arsehole for once.

She couldn't sit there and watch any more. Her guilt, fuelled by The Voice, wouldn't let her. "Kimmie, let me help with that..." She offered, sitting up and shuffling over.

"No no, it's alright, I got it." The hero argued, looking up at her nemesis as she finished the sentence. She was actually surprised to see a look of genuine concern and sorrow on the pale woman's features.

"No, seriously Princess, I wanna help. I... kinda feel... responsible." She mumbled the last words almost inaudibly, but the hard surfaces of the empty unit amplified it so Kim could hear it quite clearly.

The hero sighed. "Don't worry about it. I don't. Really, it's no big." She argued again, but that just seemed to make the thief worse. "Fine, whatever. Knock yourself out..." Kim conceded, holding out the needle and thread she was just about to stitch up a nasty gash on her upper arm with.

Shego pulled off her clawed gloves, but didn't take the needle. Instead, she took the claw of one glove and cut open the tip of her index finger with it. Kim looked at her like she was mad. "Don't worry, Princess. It's a trick I learned a while back when my dickhead brothers ended up hurt..." She explained. Raising the finger to the wound, she squeezed, letting her dark green blood drip onto the gash.

The pain where the blood dripped instantly began to subside, something that Kim found amazing. She watched in awe as the green woman treated all of her wounds in the same fashion, letting a few drops run into cuts and spreading more over burns and bruises before the cut in her finger began to close up and heal over. "That should help some. Let the blood dry out before you bandage 'em up." Shego instructed her, opening her own bottle.

Kim was at a loss for words. Shego, SHEGO, had just shown actual concern and helped her, for no reason at all! Her mind was screaming 'WHAT THE FUCK?!' at her. Her mouth was acting on a different wavelength though. "Um... thanks." She replied, still looking dumbstruck as her wounds began to visibly heal, albeit at a speed the human eye could only just pick up on. The thief grunted to show she'd heard and waved it off, getting up to do a few stretches to make sure she didn't seize up.

Shego watched Kim bandage herself up while she stretched. Now the guilt had subsided somewhat, she was in a better state of mind to think about just what the fuck was going on in her head. 'So, I felt guilty about hurting her. Um... why?' The Voice made an unwelcome appearance. _'Because, doy, out of all the people you know on this godforsaken rock, she's the only one you actually like as a person and respect as a fighter. Your parents don't count. __And don't try to deny it cuz you know DAMN WELL I'm right!'_ Shego was at a loss. Much as she didn't want to admit it, and would never do so out loud, The Voice was right. She had no comeback, so she scowled instead.

Kim was back up stretching as well when she noticed Shego's sudden scowl. She figured she wasn't the one it was directed at as the thief's eyes were unfocussed, even though her head was turned in the redhead's direction at that particular moment. "What's eating you, Shego?" She asked, not expecting to get an answer, but it never hurt to try.

The green villain shook her head as Kim's words brought her back to earth. "Eh? What? Oh! Nothing..." She answered, still somewhat distant. Kim knew something wasn't quite right. The lack of abuse in her reply told her that Shego was thinking on something heavy...

"You sure? I'm all ears if you need someone to talk to." The redhead offered.

That set the pale woman on the defensive instantly. Kim was the LAST person she wanted to talk this shit over with! "Keep your nose outta my business, Princess! We're here to fight, not talk! Now put 'em up!" She yelled, dropping into her fighting stance.

Kim shrugged, dropping into her own. Shego came at her with a series of punches and kicks, although they weren't as hard as the first session's attacks. The teen didn't have as much of a problem blocking these, although the slowly healing bruises did let her know that Shego wasn't exactly going easy on her either.

They went back and forth in something more akin to their usual dance, neither one obviously making progress, but the look in their eyes told anyone who was looking that it didn't matter. They were enjoying themselves in a way only they seemed to understand. There was no witty banter at first, Kim sensing that Shego wasn't in the mood for talking at that particular moment. Further into the fight however, Shego's tongue loosened up enough to engage in their usual semi-friendly pisstaking, and Kim smiled slightly at that, finally knowing the thief had worked whatever problem she had out of her system enough to complete their usual routine.

Contrary to what Kim thought, however, Shego had merely buried the problem for perusal at a later date. A much, much later date...

They continued sparring for another half an hour, Shego stopping the proceedings this time. She was done working the aggro out of her system and saw no point in carrying on just for the hell of it. "Ok, Kimmie. That's enough for me." She stated, backflipping out of the hero's reach and holding out a hand, signalling the end of the round.

Kim pouted slightly. "Aww, I was just getting into that!" She mock-complained. The finish had come at just the right time as the redhead was beginning to tire and didn't want to be the one to halt things a second time. She wandered over to where they had been sitting before, noting that they had actually moved quite a way round the building with their little session. She picked up both bottles of water again and Shego clicked her fingers and held out a hand to show she was ready for the throw, which Kim wasted no time in dealing.

They took a quick drink each and finished up with a few stretches again. Neither of them wanted to wake up in the morning stiff and sore from lactic acid build-up.

"Well, I spose we'd better get going. I go-OH MY GOD!" Kim screamed. Up until that point, she'd been too busy fighting or letting Shego tend to her wounds to give a thought to why she hadn't seen the Monaro or GT500 parked in the building anywhere, but she was certainly paying attention to the reason now... "You finally got it finished! Are those...? They are! Jesus christ, those forks cost a BOMB!! The shock's the same?! And... You got FCR's?! I had to save for MONTHS to buy my RS's! Oh Puh-LEASE lemme have a go! I'll be your bitch forever!" She babbled, almost too fast for Shego to understand. The excitable redhead was all over Shego's bike like a rash, peeking behind panels and touching odd bits and pieces with what almost passed as reverence, like she was gazing upon something holy.

As the green thief registered the last comment, a predatory grin spread across her face. "That might actually be worth letting you loose on my new toy..." She replied airily.

Kim's head snapped round as what she'd said finally reached her brain. "Oh fuck! Shit, err... I-you...know I was joking... right? Um, I mean, I... don't bend that way!" The redhead managed to bluster her way through a retraction of her slip of the tongue. But The Voice was having none of it. _'Oh you know you meant every. Single. Word. You know you'd just LOVE it if she took you home and dragged you round on a lead just so you could tap that arse!' _'I refuse to dignify that with an answer.' Kim thought nonchalantly, mentally folding her arms and turning away from the voice.

Shego grinned all the more as Kim stumbled through her words. Folding her arms, she pulled off a mock-hurt tone. "Aww! And I was **so** looking forward to having you wear nothing but a collar and carry out my **every** desire..." The hurt tone had turned to a full-on lustful, teasing one and the hungry look in the thief's eyes had Kim blushing the same colour as beetroot and looking anywhere but at the thief. 'Oh this is so much fun!' She thought. She loved watching the redhead squirm in uncomfortable situations. _'What, like back in your car? Don't push it, darling.'_ The Voice warned in a rare moment of sensibility.

Wisely, she listened, but her mouth was a bit slow on the uptake... "You fancy going out for dinner, Princess?" _'Oh well fucking done!'_ The Voice spat, going back into hiding to leave Shego to clear up her own mess. 'Oh jesus! Where the fuck did that come from?! Bollocks! Shit! Fuck! Arse! Gotta fucking run with it and hope she doesn't take it the wrong way... Quick! I need a save! Shit!' Luckily, her mouth was on the ball this time round. "Strictly business, though. Like, to fill a hole, cuz I'm starving." She said in her usual snotty tone. 'Oh thank fuck!' She sighed mentally, and only those who were paying astute attention would have noticed the small movements that showed her outwardly relax.

_'SHE IS __**SO**__ COMING ONTO YOU!!'_ The Voice screamed in the hero's head. _'I SHIT YOU NOT! MAKE A FUCKING MOVE! YOU __**KNOW**__ YOU WANT TO!!'_ It was all Kim could do to ignore the frantic, near hysteric yelling in her head and form a coherent thought. Now she could, she realised it was indeed around dinner time and she was also decidedly hungry. "Sounds good. Although we gotta stop at that petrol station just down the road before we go anywhere. Oh, and I gotta tell my mum I won't be home for dinner." The redhead added as an afterthought.

Shego made a gesture that meant 'Whatever, just get on with it.' and busied herself with pulling her helmet back on and turning her bike round. The redhead wasn't long with the call and hurriedly pulled her own riding gear on before starting her bike, only having to bother with choke for a short while. Shego started her own bike as the smell of 2-stroke smoke began reaching her nostrils and Kim was positioned behind her, ready to roll out.

Kim was once again shocked by the noise of Shego's ride. 'Man! She really doesn't do subtle when it comes to exhaust notes!' She decided.

They rolled out of the unit, not bothering to lock it back up as hardly anyone other than the racers came past, and the occasional patrol officer. Shego quickly shot off up the road to the petrol station, Kim having to wake up slightly to realise just how fast Shego was travelling before snapping the throttle open on her own bike and following. On the back wheel.

After Shego had got thoroughly bored waiting for Kim to fill up, making snide remarks about the hassle of mixing the oil with the petrol in the tank, they were off again. The thief had neglected to mention where they were going, even when Kim had asked at the station. "Just somewhere I went a few times when I was younger..." Was her vague answer.

Shego in the lead, they hit the streets. Knowing the redhead's quarter-litre stroker was no match for her litre 'hyperbike', she took things slowly at first, speeding things up the more Kim rode her arse, getting a feel for how fast her nemesis' machine could go.

Kim was getting slightly frustrated with Shego's seeming snail's pace, and made it known by sitting right on her back wheel, riding the revs and making the bike lurch and squirm slightly. However, as Shego gradually increased the pace, she found herself having to ride the revs for a different reason. To keep up.

Tearing through the suburbs and busy streets of the more populated areas, Shego found herself having great fun teasing the redhead, accelerating away slightly and dropping back as she came to a corner. She kept one eye on her mirrors to make sure the Supermoto was still behind her, only to be caught out on a corner as Kim came screaming past on the outside going very sideways, accelerating hard once the corner began to straighten out.

As the front wheel hovered about a foot off the ground, Kim let go of the clutch long enough to give Shego the finger as she pulled ahead slightly, backing it in to the next corner hard and fast. Having no mirrors, she couldn't see what Shego was doing, but soon found out as the superpowered woman came howling past her on the back wheel, disappearing up the road at warp 10. "Bloody show-off!" Kim yelled to herself.

Shego slowed down a way up the road and waited for Kim to catch up, not wanting the redhead to get lost. She figured she'd never hear the end of it. And she'd be right. They carried on to where they were going, still at what everyone else would consider suicidal speeds, but they decided was something akin to mildly quick.

Shego turned down a small, winding side road that led out into a more rural setting, houses getting fewer and the road surface getting progressively worse. She pulled up in front of what Kim decided was a motorcycle Mecca. Bikes of all styles, shapes and sizes were parked outside and the noise was obscene! Big V-twins, Old Skool musclebikes, race reps, crossers, old British classics and god knows what else were either gearing up to leave, had just pulled up or were pulling the odd burnout or donut somewhere in the huge car park. The redhead decided she definitely liked it here.

Shego was of the same mind. Her father had brought her here a few times when she was very young, but the memory of the place never left her. She half-hoped to see his bike somewhere amongst the sea of machinery, but knew he was probably being dragged by/dragging her mother round the world for some fanciful reason or another. Being a loaded adrenaline junkie and a martial arts choreographer respectively, they were hardly ever in the same place for too long, but they liked it that way.

The two women parked up and pulled their helmets off, Kim noting with a hint of jealousy how Shego's hair had mysteriously remained absolutely perfect, while hers was a mess. Still, a quick, vigorous shake of the head sorted that one out. "What you make of it then, Kimmie?" The thief asked, smiling.

Kim was too busy taking in the scene to give a decent reply, so merely grinned like an idiot. She liked the fact that nobody paid them much attention. A few other riders had looked their way and nodded, waved or smiled, and the two had responded in kind, but they weren't swamped with attention or blokes coming onto them like they would've been anywhere else.

"Come on then. Let's go inside." Shego said after a while, taking in some of the rare and beautiful bikes on display. One worthy of particular note was an immaculate NorVin parked up amongst a crowd of other old classics. She made a point to come out and dribble over it later.

Kim was taking in the pub when Shego spoke. The Six Bells was an odd-shaped building, looking like it had been extended a few times in its life. There was a sizeable area filled with picnic benches for people to sit outside and enjoy the sun, a small raised fish pond sat off to one side and the whole place was adorned with various old enamel signs advertising anything from soap to treacle, chocolate to train stations. "Yeah, sounds good." She answered, stuffing her gloves in her helmet.

Walking inside, the two noted the adverts for all eras of motorcycles, beers and tobacco adorning the walls, the seating that looked to be old church pews, the tables looking to be made from them, too. There were a few odd chair and table combinations dotted about in the spaces left and the place was pleasantly busy. They made their way to the bar, and Kim began feeling slightly uncomfortable, knowing she was underage.

Shego noticed this and put a hand on her shoulder in a reassuring manner. "Don't act so nervous. Nobody's gonna care how old you are here. As long as you act sensibly and don't cause a fuss, it'll be okay." Her red-headed cohort visibly relaxed, not exactly sure why her words had worked. The thief was also rather confused as to why Kim seemed to trust what she said.

"How'd you know nobody's gonna care about my age?" Kim inquired in a low voice, not wanting to draw unnecessary attention to herself.

Shego pondered this for a while. Should she tell Kim any of her past?

**--FLASHBACK--**

A 10-year-old Shego, or Shayla as she was still known at that point, was following her father through the throng of people and into the bar. She felt happy here because nobody looked at her or made rude gestures or comments about the colour of her skin. She noticed many of the people had strange patterns and pictures on their skin and she couldn't help but stare at some of them as she walked past. "Daddy, what are those pictures people got on them?" She asked.

Her father, a rather short, auburn-haired man turned round to answer, kneeling slightly to be at the same level as his daughter. "They're called tattoos. They're like a drawing, but on skin." He explained.

Shayla nodded. "Are they like when we play noughts and crosses on mummy when she's asleep?" She asked, still not quite understanding.

He laughed, purple eyes glinting in the light as he remembered the repercussions of the games he played with his daughter while his wife slept on the sofa after a hard day's work. She was never happy when she discovered she looked like a giant notepad when she woke up, but never took it out on her daughter. Her husband, however, should know better... "Not quite. Tattoos don't wash off. They're there forever. They make people special, like your skin makes you special." He continued, using tattoos as a good analogy to help his daughter overcome the insecurities of being the only one to have lingering visual effects of being hit by the comet.

Shayla smiled at that, feeling for once like she wasn't as different as the other kids at school made her feel.

Mission accomplished, her father stood up grinning even more, and they continued through the people to the bar. She waited patiently beside her father, looking around the place at all the pictures on the walls, the various ornamentation that hung on some of the exposed beams and finally back on her father, who was engaging one of the other patrons in conversation.

The young Shego waited patiently for her father to finish talking to the tall man with the beard and tattoos but, like her mother, her patience wasn't noted for its ability to stand firm for long periods. She tried getting her father's attention, but was too afraid of his rather scary-looking conversation partner and soon gave it up as a bad idea.

What she didn't know was that the barman had been watching her out of the corner of his eye while serving another customer to make sure she didn't come to any harm. Seeing her at a loss for something to do, and being between customers, he ambled over and started a conversation of his own. "Hello, I'm Paul. Who are you, then?" He asked, figuring he'd set the kid's mind at ease with who he was, knowing the whole 'don't talk to strangers' shit.

Shayla was caught off guard. Someone was actually talking to her like a human being and not a freak! "Um... my name's Shayla." She replied warily, cautious for any signs Paul was going to start being nasty to her, like everyone else who started speaking to her was.

"Shayla eh? That's a very pretty name. But then that's only fitting as you're a very pretty girl." He replied with a smile, causing the young girl to blush. She wasn't used to receiving compliments from anyone other than her parents. "So what's a pretty thing like you doing here?" Paul inquired to keep the girl occupied.

"Daddy brought me with him to help carry the drinks back." She stated with pride. He'd told her he didn't trust Herman with them, and that if she did a good job, she'd get a surprise when they went back for the next round. Well, she wasn't about to fuck up the chance for a surprise!

"Did he now? You must be very trustworthy if he's letting you do such an important job! Well, what can I get you, then?" He asked in a grown-up manner, making Shayla feel that much more important.

Screwing up her face in concentration, Shayla tried to remember what they were all drinking. "Um... Daddy wants a Gimmiss, mummy wants a bubble Southern Cuddle on stones and Herman wants a Coke." She informed him.

The barman smiled at the way she'd got the names of the drinks wrong, but didn't have any trouble working out what she meant. "And what can I get you, then?"

"Mummy says I can only have the same as Herman, but I want one of those!" She pouted, pointing to the bottle of Tia Maria hanging up on the spirit rack.

Paul chuckled and leant down on the bar. "Well unfortunately I can't disobey your mum's orders, but if you can keep a secret, can you keep a secret?" He asked in a low voice, grinning when Shayla nodded vigorously, a serious look on her face "I knew you could! OK, here's what I'll do. I'll let you have half of one to see if you like it, but don't tell anyone. This is between you and me, OK?" He told her, leaning in a bit closer to make it seem like a big deal.

Shayla grinned, nodding more vigorously. She was getting what she wanted, and no-one would ever know! She watched as Paul poured half a shot of what she'd asked for, passing it to her in a secretive manner. Taking the glass, the young Shego checked to see that her father was still heavily engrossed in conversation. She took a sip of the drink as Paul busied himself with the rest of the order.

The creamy liquid tasted sweet but bitter, tingling as it went down her throat. She was in two minds as to whether she liked it or not, but it was a grown-up's drink so she was going to like it no matter what! She had another sip. This one didn't taste as bitter, so she finished it off and put the glass back on the bar with a smile as Paul turned up with the last of the order.

"Well, did you like it?" He asked the young girl. Shayla nodded and thanked him, still smiling. "Not a problem little lady. Now, how about you get your dad so he can help you carry it out?" Paul suggested.

Doing as instructed, she tugged on her father's sleeve. "Daddy? Daddy! Paul's got the drinks ready! You gotta help me carry them out to mummy and Herman!" She practically yelled at him to get his attention.

"What? Sorry baby, I got sidetracked." He apologised with a sheepish grin at the look his daughter gave him, reminding him all too much of his wife.

"Paul's got the drinks ready." She repeated in a bit of a huff, folding her arms. Her father looked slightly surprised.

"Oh right. How much do I owe you?" He asked, reaching into his pocket for the money as he turned to the barman. He worked out that his daughter had ordered for them and was immensely proud of her for it and told her as much, making his daughter smile. He paid for the drinks and took the 2 'grown-up' drinks, making sure Shayla had hers and Herman's drinks before leading the way back outside.

Ambling up to the table where they were sitting, he gave another sheepish grin at the icy stare his wife gave him. "What the fuck kept you? A fucking sloth woulda been in and out quicker than you!" She yelled at him. The tall woman was irritable enough as it was, but having to wait for a drink by herself was tantamount to torture. Herman was off with some of the other kids looking at the bikes for something to do.

Unlike Shayla, the bikes didn't really interest Herman and he only tagged along because he was bored. Shayla, however, could spend hours wandering around the car park by herself just looking at the machinery on display and got excited beyond all sensibility whenever her parents told her where they were going.

"Sorry, Bella. I got talking to Jeff in the bar. Haven't seen him in ages. Did you know he's taken up Tae Kwan Do now after you recommended it to him?" He said, trying to change the subject as he put the drinks on the table.

"Changing the subject isn't gonna get you out of making me sit here like a pleb while you were hamming it up with one of your buddies, Kane!" She spat, snatching up her drink from the table and sucking back half of it, still glaring at her motormouth husband over the rim of the glass, setting it back down with a BANG!

Shayla sat off to one side and giggled. It was funny when her mummy got angry and yelled at daddy. She was glad she didn't have to put up with Malcolm and the twins. Her grandma was looking after them for the day as they were too young to be taken pillion, not to mention there was only room for one pillion on each of her parents' bikes.

**--END FLASHBACK--**

Shego smiled to herself. Happy days. 'Nah, I'll let Kimmie stew on that.' The thief thought. "Just take my word for it, ok?" She replied simply. Kim rolled her eyes but didn't respond, signal enough for Shego to lead on.

Arriving at the bar, they had to wait a while before anyone was free to serve them. "My, my my. Been a while since I've seen your pretty face around here!" Paul exclaimed, striding over to the pair. He was distinctly more lined and grey than Shego remembered him, but the sharp look in his eye and friendly smile were something that would never change.

"Hello Paul. How are you? Been chatting up any more young girls recently?" The thief asked sarcastically, leaning on the bar and smiling.

The barman laughed. "Nah. You know I save that talent especially for you." He replied with a grin. "And who's this? Shelly perhaps? Your mum told me a bit about her last time she was here." He informed Shego, earning him a glare and causing Kim to blush, knowing just who Shelly was and what their previous relationship was. Being mistaken for Shego's girlfriend, however, made her feel somewhat... odd. The closest feeling she could associate it with was contentment and that unnerved her.

"For your information, Shelly's been history for a good, long while. Dumb bitch accused me of cheating! Not that it's any of your business ya old perv." The last sentence was said in a friendly, mocking tone. "No, this is Kim. Kim, this is Paul, the owner." She introduced the two.

"Hi, Kim. So, are you Shayla's latest conquest, then?" He asked with a good-natured smirk.

Kim blushed all the harder at the bluntness and meaning of the question. "Erm, no. I'm not into girls." She replied, not nearly as convincingly as she would have liked.

Paul nodded. "Fair enough. So what can I get you? I assume you're having your usual, Shayla."

Shego nodded. "And add 2 large Paul Specials with chips (It's not fries! It's fuckin' CHIPS!) to that wouldya? We thought we'd pop by for dinner." Shego informed him.

Kim, having not quite gotten a taste for alcohols yet (although the bottle of Jack Daniels her parents had given her was going down at a steady pace, usually while doing homework or over a solo game of Chess), decided to go with something safe and asked for a bottle of Budweiser.

"And where will the two of you be sitting?" The ageing pub owner inquired finally.

"Outside by the fish pond. I wanna get a better look at that NorVin." Shego stated, glancing back out the door.

"He's selling it, you know." Paul informed her while he got the drinks ready.

Shego's head snapped round. "How much does he want?" She asked without thinking.

"50k." Paul answered.

"Sold." Was all Shego said in reply.

Kim looked at Shego in shock. She had that much money to just throw around willy nilly? Drakken must pay her well! "I...suppose the gesture'd be lost if I offered to pay for the beer and food, then." She asked before she could stop herself. And then blushed. Again. 'Oh for fuck's _sake! _When did I contract foot-in-mouth disease?!' She thought to herself. The Voice, as always, was there with an answer. _'About the time I made you realise Shego is a damn fine piece of ass!' _It replied triumphantly. 'Fuck you!' Was all it got in reply.

Paul gave Shayla a knowing smile before leaning in Kim's direction. "Well, if you're offering, I can take the money off your hands."

Kim quickly dug around in her pocket for the money and paid without a word, scared she'd say something inappropriate again.

Shego was caught off-guard. Kim offering to pay? ...Eh? Was there some hidden message in there somewhere? Paul's smile seemed to think so. Either way, she had a NorVin to pay for. Fuck the subtext. "So where's the owner?" She asked after Kim had paid.

"Should find him lurking about somewhere close by. Tall bloke. Bright purple Mohawk and a green, blue and black leather jacket. I'll ask him to come and see you if you've not found him by the time your food's ready." The barman offered.

"Thanks. Come on, Kimmie. Let's go grab a bench outside." Shego suggested, steering the redhead back to the door, drinks in hands. On finding a bench, she left the hero by herself while she went and located the owner of her new bike. The thief returned a few minutes later with a huge grin on her face and sat down, just as their order came over the tannoy.

"I'll get it." Kim offered, already on her feet. Shayla wasn't about to argue, so shrugged and started on her Tia Maria. Kim was back shortly with the two meals and some accoutrements in the form of salt, pepper and brown sauce. Sitting down, she asked what exactly a 'Paul's Special' was.

"Doy! Isn't it obvious? French bread pizza with a shitload of peppers and spices and shit. He's got some wicked recipe for the tomato sauce that gives it a really unique flavour. Bastard never let me or mum have it so we could make our own though!" She told her nemesis.

Kim nodded before taking a bite. "Ahh! Hot! Hot!" She exclaimed, fanning her mouth. Shego laughed mercilessly at her, getting a glare in response. They managed something close to civil conversation for the duration of the meal, spending a great deal of it discussing the various bikes that were there. They had the odd silence, but didn't find it especially awkward.

Once they'd finished eating, Kim decided to head home. Time was getting on and she still had homework to do. "I'll see you on Saturday, then." The hero said after she'd pulled on her helmet.

"Yeah. See you then, Princess. Ride safe." The mercenary replied as Kim walked off. 'Wait, since when do I say shit like "ride safe" to her?' _'I don't think I need point out the obvious... Do you?'_ The Voice asked lazily. 'How 'bout I save you the bother and shut you up with more booze?' Shego mentally threatened it as she watched Kim walk off, noting for the first time just how sexy that sway in her step was, and the way those jeans didn't hug her arse nearly tight enough...

She nearly lost all coherent thought as Kim swung her leg over her bike, but was thankfully brought back to earth as the sharp crackle of her bike pierced the mental haze.

"Someone's got more than a crush..." Paul stated from his position beside her. He'd come out to make his rounds collecting up the empties and couldn't help but join Shayla in watching the cute redhead leave. Both pairs of eyes were still on the female as she left the car park and tore off up the road on the back wheel, the front dipping slightly when she changed gear.

"Do not!" Shayla replied nonchalantly, folding her arms.

Paul grinned. "I was talking about her, but it's obvious now it goes both ways." He replied smugly. "I take it you're staying for another?" He asked, talking business, but grinning wider as Shayla's cheeks coloured fiercely.

She'd been caught off-guard by Paul's follow-up comment, but didn't get a chance to respond to it before she was hit with the question of whether she was staying for another... "Oh go on, then." She decided, getting up and following the ageing barman back inside.

FOOTNOTE: The flashback really came out of nowhere if I'm honest, but I think it works well with the story and gives a bit of background to 'my' Shego. And I found a plot hole that I hope I've gone some way to filling. I never gave a time period in which Ron had been away, but realised that it hinted at him having been there over a month at least. So he woulda had his birthday while he was there.

Big thumbs up to Starving Lunatic for letting me use Kane and Isabel in my story. I just hope I manage to get their personalities right and do 'em justice. They'll be popping up later in the story no doubt. Dunno when, where or why yet, but we'll get there.

NorVin's are a real rarity and I would quite happily sell my soul to own one. Norton featherbed frame modified to accept the Vincent V-Twin engine and gearbox. Possibly the height of Old Skool engineering. A genuine '60's ton-plus bike that handled and stopped like nothing else in its day. Would still give more modern machinery a run for its money if you could find someone with balls big enough to ride it properly. And yes, I know Vincents were made in the '50's, but the Norton wasn't.

Name the comedy sketch that's from and... I dunno... first one gets special mention in the Author's Note in the next chapter.


End file.
